10-14-12 - Sacrifice leads to Growth

Mark 10:17-31

 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

 Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’ 

Sometimes I wonder what happens to the man in today’s reading from Mark.  We naturally assume that he did not do what Jesus told him to do.  After all, he walks away grieving, for her had many things.  But it doesn’t clearly say that he doesn’t do it. There is the possibility that he does do as Jesus tells him to do, that he does sell his things and give the money to the poor and follow Jesus.  It could just take some time for him to do it, to go through the mourning process of dying to the world in order to live in Christ. 

 I can understand grieving the loss of things.  I am a sentimentalist, I love to hold on to things that remind me of the past, that remind me of the good times that I have had in this blessing that is called life.  I like to have things that bring me entertainment, that distract me from the trials of life.  I like to have things that are beautiful, that bring joy into my life.  But in the end they are all just things, things that can easily distract us from God and from being in a relationship with one another.  And yet it is hard to let them go, it is hard to trust God and to be in true relationships.  It is far easier to get sucked into watching television than it is to have really meaningful experiences and relationships.

And that is what Christ is really telling the man to do in today’s reading.  The man asks about eternal life, but it is not what Christ answers about at all.  Instead he answers about the Kingdom of God, which he already has said has come near way back in the beginning of Mark.  The kingdom of God is not eternal life, as we can see when Jesus tells the disciples that they shall receive houses, and mothers, and sisters and brothers and children a hundredfold in this age.  No, the kingdom of God is the relationships that we have with one another the good news of God that fills our lives with love and compassion for one another, that destroys hatred and injustice, and that unifies us as the family of God.  The kingdom of God is right here and right now, and the rich, meaning those who have things, including each and every one of us here, have a problem with this because we become to attached to our things and too blinded by them to see the goodness of life and the relationships that we have.  We become guided by our things and our desires for more things, for more activities, for more prestige that we fail to be guided by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who tells us that the last will be first and the first will be last.

            For Jesus, eternal life was not the all important reason for His life and death and resurrection.  Those were definitely in his mind and we thank God for that wonderful gift each and every day.  But he did not want that to take over in our minds.  He did not want us to live purely in the future.  After all, if our entire faith was solely based on the gift of eternal life after we die, and a much happier life, then it is amazing that Christians didn’t turn into a suicide cult and that we would actually have any left in the world.  No, instead our faith is one that is built on the present, it is built on the love of God for all of creation, and it is a faith that is built upon servant hood.  And that is what Christ is trying to teach the man in today’s reading.   The man had done all that is right by the law, he followed the commandments, but he had not been a servant.  So Christ orders him to be a servant to the poor, instead of a servant to himself.  And is in this that the man grieves.

            Sadly, this is something that we have to continue to learn as well.  So often we focus on the question “Who is saved?” and “What do I have to do to attain eternal life?” instead of focusing on the will of God and living in the kingdom of God.  To steal from JFK, Ask not what can my God do for me, it is What can I do for my God?  And what can we do for God?  We can serve his children, all of them, no matter skin tone or status or history, we can serve his children, all the people of the world, and especially those who are poor and oppressed.  And we can stop with the constant need to be important, the constant need to accumulate things.  We can stop being slaves to our economy and the world and start being true servants of God.

            It requires sacrifice in order to be God’s servant though.  It may lose us friends, who do not understand why we are out serving the poor or going to church instead of just enjoying ourselves.  We will definitely lose out on “things” that we may want, but that really only serve as distractions away from God.  But we will also gain.  For we gain wonder when we look into the world and we see all the things that God has done.  We gain relationships, as we become family with so many more people outside of our current little groups.  As Christ said, we will have mothers and sisters and brothers a hundredfold, for we shall be family with all of God’s children. And when we serve and when we focus on the will of God, we can begin to stretch ourselves to see other denominations as truly our brothers and sisters instead of just those wackjobs who don’t know what they are taking about.  We have already started doing this, with our work with Catholics and Presbyterians for VBS when we serve the children of this community. And the more we serve and the more we focus on God, the more that we shall expand and grow in ministry and in understanding of one another.

            And truly, ministry is the purpose of the church and it is the natural outflowing of the love and forgiveness that God has already shown us.  When we see and feel the love of God upon us, we shall want to and will serve others and do the ministry of God, for each and every person here is a minister.  Each and every person has the gifts and abilities to serve God by serving our neighbors, both nearby and far away.  We have seen this just recently, as 110 quilts and over 30 health care packages were sent from this congregation to Lutheran World relief to help those in need.  We can do amazing things when we are united and we are focused on love.  It is only when we focus on our things and we become grieved that we may have to make sacrifices or when we focus on anger and intolerance that we are stopped from doing ministry, from showing the love of God.

            It is one of the hardest things in the world to let go of things.  It can be so easy to be sentimental over an object or so proud of our reputations, but yet we are called to give away our love of these things.  We are called instead to sacrifice in order to glorify God.  We are called to give our resources away to those who are needy, that the hungry may be fed and homeless may have shelter.  We are called to be servants of all, to see ourselves as the least instead of the greatest.  And yes, this goes against our traditions and our heritage as Americans, where we clamor to be the best and to have the most, but we are called into being citizens of the Kingdom of God, right here and right now.  We are called to live in justice, and love, and compassion, instead of hoarding.

So Rejoice!  Do not be afraid, but instead enter into the light of God.  Be free of the love of the things of this world and rejoice in the family of God and rejoice in your freedom!  May the Lord bless and keep all of us, and may God teach us to truly be His servants. 

Amen.   

10-7-12 - Connections (Blessing of the Animals Sunday)

10-7-12

Jerusalem

¹⁸Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” ¹⁹So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. ²⁰The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner.

²¹So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²²And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. ²³Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.” ²⁴Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

          I for one believe that when God was handing out best friends, Men won.  What do women get?  Shiny rocks.  Woohoo.  What do men get?  We get dogs.  We get living, breathing creatures that care for us when we are sick or depressed, who play with us, and who have been medically proven to decrease stress and to increase life spans.  Yep, sure beats an overpriced piece of compressed coal.  Unless of course you live in my house, where the dogs are the woman’s best friends…. Then she just wins all around, with her diamonds and the dogs. 

Pets give great companionship.  In fact, most pet owners form a bond with their pets.  It is natural, since we take care of them, play with them, bathe them, and basically treat them as we do children, except for diapers, thankfully.  And I am firmly convinced that this is due to how we were created and how all creatures were created.  Our reading from Genesis today tells us that all creatures were created in an effort to create a partner for Adam.  Each when created with the hope that Adam and the creature would care for one another and work together.  Of course, none of them were the perfect partner for Adam.  After all, none of them were talking to him and none were the same as Adam.

  Adam needed a human partner, one who felt the same kinds of emotions and had the same types of abilities and had enough in common with him in order to be a true partner.

            But even though they were not the perfect partner, all the creatures are still linked to humanity, still created to be a part of creation with us, neither above the other.  There is another connection as well in this story, which is Adam’s naming of each and every creature.  We don’t normally name things that don’t matter to us and things that we have no real connection to.  Naming something shows care for it, whether it be the naming of a child, or a car, or a soldier’s gun, that naming strengthens the connection between the namer and the named.  

            It is for all these reasons that we are bound to our fellow creations.  And it is why we are so quick to have emotions when a creature is harmed.  Think about all the action movies out there where human after human is killed, and there is hardly any emotion to it at all.  We have become numb at times to violence against our brothers and our sisters.  Yet who here did not cry when Old Yeller or Bambi’s mom are shot?  And when you heard the recent news that a calf was lit on fire, who did not feel intense anger and disgust?  There have been letters to the editor about the need to hunt down whoever committed this horrendous crime, yet when a person is murdered there is much less outrage.  This is not to say that we do not care about our brothers and sisters.  Rather, it is that we have a connection to all of creation, whether we acknowledge it or not.  We care for creatures because God created us to care for them. 

            Indeed, God calls us to be in harmony with all of creation.  It can easy to say that our faith is all about us and God, all about what happens after we die.  But the reality is that God calls us to life, calls us to focus on the present day and not just the future.  And in the present we are called to harmony, instead of chaos and destruction.  We are called to caring, instead of indifference.  We are called to be partners with creation, instead of its master and instead of using it solely for our own pleasure and devices.  We are called to partnership, for that is how we are created to be.  It is Sin that tells us otherwise, that tells us that we are above the rest of creation and that we are free to use and abuse it how we see fit.  It is Sin that tells us to ignore the plight of our animal brothers and sisters, our fellow creations, instead of advocating for their welfare.  Today we are joined by two animal rescues, Safe at Last Dog Rescue and the Humane Society of Columbiana County.  I’m sure that they can relate to you stories of how humans can be unkind and terrible to our fellow creations.  But I’m sure they can also tell you about the healing that happens in their lives as well, through being alongside these creatures and seeing them learn to thrive again and to find happy homes.  They can tell you how every day people have made a vast difference in other’s lives.  And I can tell you that their work is indeed a ministry that falls into the very heart of God, the caring for all of creation.

            And so are we called to act with care for this world that God created, which we are a part of.  This is why we pray for creation in its many forms each Sunday during the prayers of intercession.  We are called to live not just for the future, when Christ will come again and there will be a new heaven and a new earth.  We are also called to live in the now, with the wonderful earth that God has created, that we live in, and that we will pass on to our children and children’s children.  We live in the present and do what we can to make this world better for all of its inhabitants, because we are called to be God’s hands in this world, showing love and compassion to God’s creation, that which God made out of love and called good.

            May God bless us and all of His creation, and may God help us to live in greater harmony with all that he has made, so that God’s love may fill this world.

Amen

9-30-12 - Be Salty!

9-30-2012

Jerusalem

            ³⁸John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” ³⁹But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. ⁴⁰Whoever is not against us is for us. ⁴¹For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
⁴²“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. ⁴³If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. ⁴⁵And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. ⁴⁷And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.

⁴⁹“For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

I am an avid fan of cooking shows.  Food network is a constant at the Myers house, especially the competition and restaurant makeover shows, where they show the chefs how to actually cook.  One of the biggest issues that these chefs have is that they will under season the food.  And the main seasoning that they are lacking is normally Salt.  Salt is one of those things that brings out the nature of the food it is put on, it raises it to higher levels.  If it lost that ability, it loses its whole purpose.

            We as Christians are called to be salty as well.  But what does that mean?  Not all of us are capable of making delicious food, nor is that our calling.  Our calling is to be who we are, for if we lose our nature, than we cease to be what we are.  In other words, saying that we are Christians doesn’t make us Christians.  What makes us Christians is how we live out our lives and if we are a blessing to others.  What makes us Christians is living in the light of the Holy Spirit, in allowing that Spirit to work through us in order to bring love and peace and compassion to all people.

            What kinds of things does this mean in our lives?  For one we can look at James.  We are called to pray for one another in any of our woes.  No matter the illness or the harm, whether it be mental, physical, spiritual, or relational, we are called to pray and support one another.  When we pray we intercede for one another, we ask God to look with favor and healing upon his children.  When we pray we act in love and compassion towards our brothers and sisters, whether they are aware of our prayers or not, and when we live lives full of prayer we converse with God and we form a closer relationship with God.  And that relationship comes to define our entire lives, and makes us truly salty.  We have an amazing prayer chain here, and I know that the people who are in it are devoted to the service of this congregation and to all those that we know and love.  And there is absolutely no shame in being on it, on letting your brothers and sisters pray for you and care for you. I’ve been on it, and I am so grateful for their ministry and compassion.

            We are also called to confess to one another, not so that we can then go spread gossip around, but so that we may rebuild relationships and that there may be forgiveness in our community of faith.  And it takes great strength to say you are sorry and that you have sinned against someone else.  It is far easier to keep nursing hurts and to let the relationship die.  But that is not how we are called to live.  Even on the cross, Christ asked for forgiveness for those crucifying him.  How much more should we forgive those who have done so little to us in comparison?  And when we forgive, and when we apologize, relationships can begin to heal, and the love and compassion of God flows through us to one another. 

            We are also called to be helpful to others in faith.  As Christ tells us in Mark, we would be better to throw ourselves into the sea with a millstone around our necks than to be a stumbling block to even the least of people, or at least the least as humanity sees people.  We are called to be examples in the faith, to come and worship together, to share in the life giving sacraments of Baptism and Holy communion, to rejoice with one another, and to model a life that is bound to Christ, where love and compassion reign supreme.  When we gather and hear the Word of God and focus on God’s activity in our lives, when we gather here as the Body of Christ and grow together, and when we gather here and share our lives with one another we help one another to live out their faith and we serve as a community that helps those who have never experienced God in their lives to come to a place and to experience God through each person here.  If we instead choose to live lives that are divisive and that seek control, then we may as well tie that millstone around our necks and cast ourselves into the sea, for then we are showing people that God does not truly reign and change lives, but instead is powerless to human desires and emotions.

            For we are not here for ourselves.  Yes, we do have the opportunity to grow and to recharge here on Sundays, but we are not really here for our selves, for we are called to be the servants of God.  We are called to forever be in service to others, to serve as a light in the darkness, as hope in times of hopelessness, as a power for good instead of evil and love instead of indifference.

            Today we serve as that community.  Today we bless quilts handmade by some truly wonderful women here that will go to those who are cold and in need all over this world.  Today we bless the prayer shawls, made and filled with love by some other fantastic women here, and the shawls will go to those in our lives that are sick and in need and will wrap them in the love and peace of this congregation.  And today we celebrate the first communions of Kip, Kaedan, Collin, Landon, Jack, and Lucas, who will join us for our meal with our Lord Jesus Christ, who always makes room for another person and who fills us with this holy meal and with his own presence in it.            Today our light shines brightly and I pray that it may continue to shine brightly each and every day.

            But the reality is that we live with Sin as well.  None of us is perfect, none of us able to by our own power fight against the power of Sin.  It is often said that the church is a hospital for Sinners, and this is most certainly true.  And each and every one of us here is a sinner, but each of us is also made whole and alive through God.  But we are to ask ourselves a simple, yet hard question to answer.  “What is it in my life that I am doing or not doing that is being a stumbling block to others?  What is it that I am doing that sets up a barrier between others and God?”  Perhaps it is open disdain for other denominations, or it is being too territorial in this congregation, whether about position or the pew you sit in.  Maybe you are like me and a bit passive aggressive, which is not exactly the best way to show God’s love.  Or it could be something completely different.  But ponder this over the next week and think “Why do I cling onto this emotion or this activity?  How can I cut this off, How can I live more fully in God’s love and be a blessing to others?  How can I embrace my saltiness?”

            May we truly be salt, may we enrich the lives of all those around us through the love of God.  May we pray for one another, and care for one another, confess to one another and forgive one another, may we live in our community of faith instead of separating ourselves into little cliques and fiefdoms, and may we always strive to improve and to grow in our relationships with one another and with God.  May God bless each and everyone of us in our journeys or faith as we seek to claim our identity as salt, as the children of God. 

Amen

            

9-23-2012 - Maybe we should respect James more...

James 3:13 - 4:8

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom. ¹⁴But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. ¹⁵Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. ¹⁶For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. ¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ¹⁸And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.

4Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you?²You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. ³You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁷Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

            What does it mean to have faith?  Often we have the idea that faith is all about our beliefs, that faith is knowing that Jesus is our savior, end of story.  But is that really faith, or is it just what we want to think of as faith?  After all, it sure makes living a life of faith easy, if all we have to do is think something.  Understanding faith as something intellectual is doubly dangerous for us Lutherans, who put so much trust into being “saved by Grace through Faith.”  Our phrase has the possibility to tell us that our faith as Christians, that our lives as Christians, remains in the intellectual.  However, we know this not to be true, don’t we?

            So then what is faith, if not just some intellectual endeavor to figure out God?  Faith is something lived out, it is trusting in God, or as James puts it, it is submitting ourselves to God.  This is perhaps the hardest thing in the world to do, to submit ourselves to God.  So often we want to be in control of our lives.  We want to decide what to do and when to do it and how we are going to do it.  We want to decide who is in and who is out.  We want to do everything under our own power as well.  I know that I have a very difficult time pushing aside pride and asking for help, and I’m sure that I am not the only on here who does. 

            And yet we are called to ask for help from our Loving God and we are called to ask for direction from our God.  And yet we don’t, because God does not bow to our will nor does God always give us directions that we may like.  We don’t want to have complete faith, to completely trust in God and ask for God’s guidance, because we are a scared and prideful people.  We are scared of losing control, of doing another person’s will, and we are scared of failure and how it may look.  And we are often too proud to admit our weaknesses or that someone else might know better than we do.

            And yet we are called to lay aside that pride and lay aside our need to control, because often those just get us into trouble.  But when we follow God, when we truly listen to hear His word in our lives, when we truly listen for God’s will instead of our own, and when we act in love and compassion according to his will instead of our own, then we can truly say we are living in faith and our lives will be all the more blessed.

            I’m not going to lie.  This does not mean that our lives will suddenly become easy, that everything that we think that we want or need will suddenly appear or that our families will become perfect angels instead of the quirky people that we all are, or even that God will lead us down paths of ease.  What it does mean is that we will be more at peace with our lives, that instead of conflict riddling our lives and leave us anxious messes, we can be a peace with our neighbors, with our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we make ourselves submissive to God, instead of submitting ourselves to ourselves, to our cravings, our desires, to the world, we gain perspective and we gain a peace that passes all understanding.  And when we submit ourselves to God we are filled with the wisdom of God, “the wisdom from above  which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.” 

            When we are filled with God’s wisdom, we are filled with mercy, we are freed of hypocrisy and partiality, we begin to see people for who they truly are, the children of God, instead of just tools to be used or obstacles in the way of our own glory.  And when we are filled with God’s wisdom, we begin to see our purpose in life, and the many gifts that God has given us, and the possibilities that God has for our lives.   In her book, Life as Prayer, Evelyn Underhill wrote, “A real man or woman of prayer, then, should be a live wire, a link between God’s grace and the world that needs it.  In so far as you have given your lives to God, you have offered yourselves, without conditions, as transmitters of His saving and enabling love; and the will and love, the emotional drive, which you thus consecrate to God’s purposes, can do actual work on supernatural levels for those whom you are called upon to pray.  One human spirit can, by its prayer and love, touch and change another human spirit.  It can take a soul and list it to the atmosphere of God.”

            We have been going through the book of James for a few weeks now, and it has reminded us of that very same thing.  As Christians, as people of faith, as slaves to God, we are a blessing to this world.  When we truly follow God, we are that live wire, which brings power and ability to others, and we are a link to God, for the love and compassion that we show are truly from God and are a source of strength and hope for many. 

            Over the next few weeks I will be praying for our community. I will be praying that we may set aside any conflicts that we have, that any selfish ambition may be set aside, and that instead that we may see God’s will for us here in Columbiana.  I shall pray that we may be filled with God’s wisdom, that we may see where God is leading us and that we may be filled with greater faith and trust in God, that we may be willing to submit ourselves to God instead of ourselves.  Yes, we are a community of faith and love here at Jerusalem, and yes we do great ministry here.  But I pray, for we are not perfect, none of us separately or together, and I pray that God may help us to see His Spirit all the more clearly in our lives, that we may glorify Him with great zeal.  And I Hope that you will join me as well in these prayers, that we may walk together as one family down whatever paths God may lead us. 

Let us Pray,

God our Father, be with your children, that we may see your will and that we may serve you in all things.  God the Son, be with us, your brothers and sisters, give us the strength to submit ourselves just as you did on the cross.  God the Holy Spirit, Fill our lives with your presence and give us the strength to trust in you. 

Amen

9-16-2012 - Take some time to appreciate one another

9-16-12

Jerusalem

3Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ²For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. ³If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. ⁴Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! ⁶And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell. ⁷For every species of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, ⁸but no one can tame the tongue—a restless evil, full of deadly poison.⁹With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. ¹¹Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water?¹²Can a fig tree, my

brothers and sisters, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh.

            I am completely convinced that we as a human race have managed to break the speed of light.  And we didn’t do it through our legs or on wheels or in a plane.  No, instead we have broken the speed of light with our mouths, because that seems to be how fast gossip gets around a community.  It is as if as soon as someone does something that is embarrassing or upsets someone else, the whole world needs to know within a millisecond.

            We are all guilty of it.  Who here hasn’t just had to share some juicy bit of gossip?  Or who here hasn’t had to run off to someone to complain about someone else, to turn that person into an enemy and poison another against them, or just tried to break them down for some real or imagined slight against you?   Those words carry great power and have the capacity to destroy relationships among people.  I know that I have lost many a friend over some words and some gossip, whether it is true or not.

            James tells us that the tongue is a fire, that the tongue has the great capacity to destroy whole forests in life, and by that we mean it has the power to destroy entire systems, entire families, whether they be biological or the church family.   What we say to one another matters, as does how we say it.  When we are hostile, when we spread gossip, when we spew hatred and fear, then our tongues do great damage, damage that is extremely hard to heal from.  Our words can brew distrust and they can create discord in areas of peace and harmony.  Our words have the power to block out the One True Word from being heard as well, for when our words are filled with evil, then Jesus is seen in a much darker light, for we are the body of Christ, they way in which all those around us see and hear God.  So if we speak in the ways of the world and in the ways of Sin, then our God will become too much enthralled to the ways of the world, and Sin will cover our ears from hearing God’s grace and love for us. 

            But our tongues are not meant purely for destruction.  After all, a fire is useful for more than just burning down forests.  With fire we are able to warm ourselves during a cold night.  With fire we are able to cook our food, to make it safe and so much tastier to eat.  With fire we are able to purify instruments, so that they may be safely used as well.  Fire can also be used to create steam and power engines.  Fire can warm, it can cook, it can purify and it can power.  And our tongues are also useful in many ways as well.  They can be tamed and used to be a blessing to our community of faith and to the kingdom of God instead of being destructive tools.  How?  By speaking well of one another, instead of cursing one another.  By promoting the love and the grace of God in public, instead of speaking harshly of our brothers and sisters and this congregation.  Be reminding each other every day that “God love you, and so do I!”

            We can also build each other up by thanking each other and showing appreciation for one another’s gifts.  Now this is something that I am admittedly not the best at doing.  Often times I forget to take into account all the hard work that the people around me do in order to get things done, just because I am wrapped up in my own little world.  I can be very quick to judge and to criticize, sometimes forgetting to even be constructive with my criticism.  And this is something that I am working on, and it is something that I know can be destructive and can be a way that the tongue creates disastrous wildfires.  So, I would like to take a few moments to work on being more appreciative to your ministry hear at Jerusalem and some individuals. 

(Thank a few people in the congregation for their hard work and ministry)

Now will each of you please take a moment and turn to a person near you and thank them for their ministry and for their impact in your lives as well.

……

Each of you here is a vital part of our community of faith, each of you vital to the kingdom of God.  I pray that our tongues will help us to lift one another up, instead of tear each other down, and that they may support the ministry of our community, of God’s church.  Yes, our tongues may be causes of great disasters, but they are also the rudder that guides our lives.  May they lead us in ways of peace, and love, and compassion, that we may bear good fruit and fresh water that nourishes our community and world.

Amen.

9-9-12 - Fear is a Killer

⁴Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.”

⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; ⁶then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; ⁷the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

            In the Dune series by Frank Herbert, there is a litany against fear that the protagonist Paul Atreides uses – I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.  Throughout the first few books, Paul does amazing things, and whenever there is fear in his heart he goes through this mediation, in order to calm his nerves and accomplish what needs to be done.  Yet, even in its ability to calm him, I see some sadness in its wording, especially at the end when he says “Only I will remain.”  Why?  Because he is all alone in that moment, and we are not people designed to be alone.  No, instead we are called to relationship and our fears are eased not through our own will and determination, but through God. 

            God tells us not to fear, just as Paul’s litany tells him, but it is for very different reasons.  We are told not to fear, because we are not alone, because we are never alone.  Instead we have a God who comes to our aid and who uplifts the lowly.  Now sometimes this means that we have to accept that God is coming after us as well, if we are the ones oppressing others and they are calling out to God for aid against our actions.  But, God is always of aid to his children, and God brings us hope in His presence.  After all, if God is for us, who can possibly be against us?

            And we have a God who gives us strength, so that when we get past fear we see not that we are alone, but that God is there with us, holding us up.  What is it that you fear?  What is it that holds you back, that silences your tongue and that weakens your knees to the point that you cannot move?  What is it that is blinding you to the world around you and what is closing your ears from hearing those who mourn or are in pain? 

            What is holding you back in your life, what fear is gripping your heart and making you think that you are not good enough or that you don’t have the skills needed?  May God grant you peace.  Trust that God is with you, that God will give you the strength that you need to speak and to walk and to do.  Because that is what God does.  God is in the business of hope.  God is in the business of giving strength. 

            In God we are made free, free from Sin, free from despair, and free from fear.  We have no need to fear death, because God has already destroyed death.  We have no need to despair, for God is with us in all of our sorrows and we are promised final victory and reconnection with all those that we have lost.  This one may be the hardest right now, as we have lost three of our beloved members recently.  But know that they are not left alone either, for god is still caring for them even past death and God cares for us who mourn as well. And we have no need to fear, for God is by our side and caring for us each and every day.  We are never alone.  Instead we have God and we have this community of faith, which supports one another in our times of weakness, and despair, and fear.  We have one another to example God’s love and support, to give us the strength and the courage to do things that we may not believe we have the power to do.

            And if you think that you are too small for God to work with, then let that notion be completely tossed away.  God especially cares for those who are the lowest and God is more than willing to work in the mud and the dirtiness of this world in order to bring healing and restoration to all people.  After all, in our Gospel reading today Jesus plays in the dirt in order to give voice to the voiceless and hearing to the deaf.  There is nothing and no one under God, for God lowers Himself in order to be with us at all times.  We do not have a far off God who just watches us, or worse ignores us, but instead we have a God who is in the dirt of our lives, in every one of our moments, in order that we may be loved and empowered and free from the burdens of sin and fear. 

            The great philosopher and general Sun Tzu once wrote “If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.”  Well, we know our enemy.  Our enemy is fear and oppression and Sin.  And we know ourselves.  We know that we are the children of God, beloved of our Creator.  And we even know the results, because we know that God will always ultimately win.  So we need not fear the result of the battle nor the battle itself.  For we have already won, all we need do is act in the light of God’s grace and to know in our hearts that God will defeat all that which tears down and all that spews hatred and all that fills our hearts with fear. 

            As I’m in a quote happy mood today, here is another one.  Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome, once said “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”  In our lives we are free, free from living our lives out of fear.  We are free from worrying about where food and drink and money will come from.  God will provide, and we need to have trust in that.  Because if we start to focus on just finances, on just property, then we shall die in multiple ways.  We will die spiritually, because we will lose our focus on God and we will die numbers wise, because we will cease to be truly church and that is easily seen.

            So be not afraid, God provides and God cares.  And know that God empowers you and fills you with His Spirit. You are given ears to hear God’s word, and a tongue to speak it, and nothing will stop God from working through you, except for yourself.  Over the next few weeks in the parlor adult Sunday school class, we will be discussing the Spirit and the gifts that we are given through the Spirit and how we may use them.  Please come join us if you are interested. 

            God empowers us, God gives us the one thing that we can’t account for on our own, the one thing that defies logic, and that is Hope.  Hope, that in the end all things will be as they should be, where there will be no more weeping, except for tears of joy, and their will be no more pain and no more suffering, and the downtrodden will be lifted up and the ill will be healed.  And the hope that we are more than we could ever believe, and that hope can be lived out each day, because we truly are the children of God.  And God has given us a great many thing and works miracles in our lives every day.  So be not afraid, but instead live in the abundance that God has given us, in the light of his mercy and love, and with the hope of things that are to come. 

Amen

            

9-2-12 - Do, don't just Hear

James 1:17-27

¹⁷Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ¹⁸In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

¹⁹You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. ²¹Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. ²²But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. ²³For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; ²⁴for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. ²⁵But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing. ²⁶If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Millard Fuller was a business man.  When he was six years old he began his life of business by raising pigs and selling them for a nice profit.  He moved on to others animals as well, and then in college he sold cakes and lamps and other items, and he invested his money and his roommate and him invested that money into real estate, and they owned half a city block and a small trailer park.  By the age of 28 he was a millionare.  He got married and had kids and he was wealthy, and he was living the American dream.  There was just one slight problem.  You see, he and his family were completely miserable, to the point that his wife was ready to leave him.  All the business sense that he had and all the hard work that he did did nothing to save his relationship with his wife, because he was so focused on the worries of the world and the status that wealth brought, and his joy was in doing the work, in using his skills, not in his family nor in God.  So Millard went to his pastor and talked to his wife and they decided together to do something drastic, in order to save their marriage and to become closer to God.  What they did was that they took Jesus’ advice to the rich man in Matthew 19 to heart, and they sold all that they had and gave of their money to charity.  Instead of focusing on money, and all the worries that it brings, and instead of focusing on work, and all the stress that it brings, they began to work together to focus on God and what God wanted them to do with their lives.  And their joy grew and grew as their lives were focused on God.

            Then in 1973 they had another life changing experience.  In that year they lived in Zaire and they helped build housing for poor families.  They worked on these houses and saw the good that it did and the joy that the families had when they saw that they had someone safe to live, somewhere to call home.  So when they moved back to Georgia in 1976 they worked to create a similar project here in the states.  The wanted those who are in need to have a roof over their heads, a place to call “home.”  What they started became known as Habitat for Humanity, which last year alone helped 13,503 families in 18 countries, including here in the United States.

            James tells us that “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”  The world tells us what is important – Money, power, status, having as many activities as possible, to have people praise you for your work or your sacrifices.  We live in a country that uplifts the individual above all things, being told that what matters is ourselves, and maybe those in our family, but really it is all about us.  We are told to look in the mirror and say “look how great I am!”   But instead in James we are told the opposite.  Instead of looking in a mirror, we are called to look outward, to see the orphans and the widows in their distress, to keep one unstained by the cares of this world and instead to focus on the will of God in our lives.

            And each and every one of us has a part in God’s world plan, each of us given a calling.  We are not all called to be like Millard Fuller and to give away all that we have and to go off to Africa, but we do have callings.  They may not be what we want in the world, or what we think that we want, but they are fulfilling, they are purposeful, and in serving God we find our greatest joys. 

            Being a Christian, having faith, is about more than just our minds, more than just thinking that we are Christians and more than just coming here on Sundays.  Being a Christian means having our lives centered on God, so that all that we do is to the glory of God and showing God’s love and compassion.  So when we leave through those doors, we are not leaving a spiritual world and entering into reality, but instead we are re-energized with God’s Spirit so that we may enter into the world, ready to carry God’s love and grace to all that we meet in our lives.  It is in caring for the poor and the oppressed and the victimized.  There is a reason that James talks about the orphans and widows in our text today.  Today we think about the orphans and widows and we have good thoughts about them, perhaps it is pity or perhaps it is our heart reaching out to those who are in pain, but in ancient times that was not the case.  Widows and orphans were worthless members of society back then, because women were purely objects owned by their husbands who had no identity since they were no longer attached to a man, and children were not so highly though of but instead were seen as worthless since they couldn’t work and just took up food and resources, so an orphan is even worse since they are not attached to a mother and father and they are sucking up the resources of the community.  And yet James is saying true religion, true faith is in carrying for them, carrying for those that the rest of society was casting aside, carrying for those that no one else would even look at, let alone help.  Because that is how God acts, God acts in love for all people, especially those who are alone and helpless.  And that is how we are called to do as well.  Not only to orphans and widows, but to all those in out society who are cast aside and neglected – The homeless, the incarcerated and the felon, unwed, single mothers, and all others that society looks down upon, all those that society wishes to claim as “sinners” we are to look upon and say “You are loved, and we will care for you and we will help you.”  That is true faith and true religion, which lifts up those who are pressed down.

            Our faith is one that is lived out every moment of every day, from the jokes that we tell, to the ways that we do our jobs, to the ways that we spend our money, and every moment in between.   This does not mean that it needs to be a life spent on our knees in prayer that we must sacrifice everything that we hold close to us, or that we have to all go to Africa and start massive charities.  What it means that we take seriously the good news of Jesus Christ, that Christ did come to save us from ourselves, to promise us eternal life, and to show us the will of God, that we may be a light to all people.  

            Thus our lives are ones of celebration.  We celebrate in the light of God and in His everlasting love and forgiveness.  Instead of worrying constantly about our lives, we are freed to enjoy life, to enjoy the company of one another, and to enjoy our connection with all of God’s children, across all social boundaries and statuses.  And when we celebrate in this way, when we share in the joy of God with one another, we truly live out our Christian faith because we will be showing love and compassion to all, just as God loves all of us.  No longer will we look into a mirror, but instead we will look out and we will care for the orphans and the widows and all of God’s children, because we will be so filled with God’s grace.  We may not be completely there yet, but by the grace of God and our allowing God to work through us, we shall find that joy and that love and we shall truly be called the children of God. 

Amen.