Sunday August 14, 2011

August 14, 2011

Pentecost + 9

Morning Prayers

Like the Canaanite woman, let us shout to the Lord for mercy and offer prayers for all in desperate need.

For the people of God in every place.

Lord, have mercy.

For all nations and their leaders, for those who serve, and for mercy, justice, and peace in the world.

Lord, have mercy.

For students and teachers, and all those returning to school.

Lord, have mercy.

For travelers and those on vacation, and for safety from violent storms.

Lord, have mercy.

For dogs, and all domestic and wild animals.

Lord, have mercy.

For the sick and the suffering, prisoners and their families, foreigners and outcasts, and

all in danger and need.

Lord, have mercy.

For those who rest in Christ and for all the dead.

Lord, have mercy.

For our city and those who live in it, and for our families, companions, and all we love.

Lord, have mercy.

God of infinite love, who heals those who call on you, have mercy on us sinners and grant our prayers for all the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Matthew 15:10-28

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd near and said to them, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ It’s not what goes into the mouth that contaminates a person in God’s sight. It’s what comes out of the mouth that contaminates the person.”

¹² Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended by what you just said?”

¹³ Jesus replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be pulled up. ¹⁴Leave the Pharisees alone. They are blind people who are guides to blind people. But if a blind person leads another blind person, they will both fall into a ditch.”

¹⁵ Then Peter spoke up, “Explain this riddle to us.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Don’t you understand yet? ¹⁷ Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer? ¹⁸ But what goes out of the mouth comes from the heart. And that’s what contaminates a person in God’s sight. ¹⁹ Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adultery, sexual sins, thefts, false testimonies, and insults. ²⁰ These contaminate a person in God’s sight. But eating without washing hands doesn’t contaminate in God’s sight.”

²¹ From there, Jesus went to the regions of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Canaanite woman from those territories came out and shouted, “Show me mercy, Son of David. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.” ²³ But he didn’t respond to her at all.

His disciples came and urged him, “Send her away; she keeps shouting out after us.”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “I’ve been sent only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.”

²⁵ But she knelt before him and said, “Lord, help me.”

²⁶ He replied, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and toss it to dogs.”

²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall off their masters’ table.”

²⁸ Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith. It will be just as you wish.” And right then, her daughter was healed.

ᚒ

“Even the Dogs...”

Everything seems to be run by opinion polls, these days. I knew a state legislator in Louisiana who would never answer a question on a particular issue unless he had polling data. He was a terrible legislator and leader, but he kept getting elected!

Look at the public opinion polls for our national servants, and it looks pretty bad for them. Presidents never seem to have positive job approval ratings about them according to the polls—and I don't care which President you're talking about. None of them ever get really high marks.

Congress, bless their pointy little heads, are always lower in job approval ratings than the President—again, no matter who's in charge of the House or Senate.

And so, my interest was piqued this week when I saw a poll by a group called Public Policy Polling which sought to gauge Americans' views on God's job approval rating. Yes, they took a poll on God. Well, you'll be happy to know that God has a higher opinion rating than either the Congress or the President. Seems 52% thought God was doing a good job in running the universe.

71% thought he did a good job in creating the world, though only 50% thought God was doing well in managing nature and natural disasters.

Everybody's a critic.

It occurred to me that Jesus never acted based on opininon polls—and his favor was up and down all the time.

Take today's lesson. Jesus begins by alienating the Pharisees. To be fair, he never had a high approval rating from them. And then he goes off into foreign territory and upsets a Canaanite woman—calls he names. These incidents are related—and not just by Jesus' low approval rating.

Jesus ticks off the Pharisees by going after one of their favorites things—ritual purity. In the world of the Pharisees—and don't think ill of them, they were just trying to be most religious people—like us? Anyway, in their world, you remained pure by eating only the right things—no shrimp, no pork (those are the high points)--and preparing them the right way and preparing to eat the fight way. You had to wash your hands in just the right way—in several places in the Gospels, Jesus is confronted concerning his disciples failure to wash their hands properly before eating. Now, this wasn't about washing up like we do—they had no sense of microbes of any kind. Any deviation from these was considered an abomination. While technically, that would only affect going to the temple, for the Pharisees all of life was to be kept as holy and pure.

But Jesus blows his approval rating by declaring that it doesn't matter how or even if you wash your hands or even what you eat. It isn't what goes into a person that makes one acceptable to God, but what comes out of a person.

It isn't how you wash or what you eat that defines what kind of person you are, what kind of life you live. If your life demonstrates God's love by what you say and do—that's way more important.

And then, Jesus makes his way into the regions of Tyre and Sidon and encounters a local woman who is insistent that Jesus heal her daughter. She's so disruptive that the Disciples try to get Jesus to get rid of her.

Jesus answers her—which gives her instant standing—or if you look at it terms of honor and shame (which proper society was based on), he sunk to her level. Imagine that! An unknown woman from another culture addresses the Rabbi as Son of David (and by extension King). A woman. And a foreigner all rolled into one. A double whammy.

Jesus, despite her addressing him as Son of David, pushes her to the outside margins by declaring he is only there for Jews. What was his approval rating with that woman in that moments? What do you think his job approval rating was with the Disciples?

She persists.

He replies that it would be wrong to give the children's (Jewish people) food and give it to the dogs.

Dogs. Jews called Canaanites dogs because, like dogs, they'd eat anything.

Take a second and think about what Jesus is saying to this woman. He is calling here a female dog—and the word for female dog in his time would ring about the same as our word for female dog would in ours.

And she responds, not with hatred, but with great wit—and in Jesus eyes—great faith. Even the dogs get the crumbs that fall from the table.

And Jesus tells her she has great faith—a phrase that Jesus is stingy with. He tells the Disciples that they have little faith 3 times in Mathew—but never great faith about anyone but this woman.

And while Jesus' job approval rating went up in her eyes, I bet it went down in others who saw this spectacle.

But this incident is a beautiful illustration of the teaching Jesus has just made. Outwardly, this woman has nothing about her that is "clean." But she has two things in her heart that make her right with God: her unwavering, nagging, persistent care for her daughter; and, her unwavering, nagging, persistent trust that Jesus can cure her daughter. And these two things cause Jesus to undergo a change of heart himself.

So what about us? What can we take away from this passage?

It seems to me that we can become pharisaic about our faith, as well. We can think that because we go to church regularly, attend Sunday School, give to the church that we are pretty good people. But we can do all these things and still be rotten to our neighbors and our family. Does being a Disciple of Jesus Christ make a difference that the people we encounter in the world can see?

Does being a Disciple force us to look beyond ourselves our own kind to include the outcasts—the Canaanite women of the world? Who would those outsiders be? The kid on your block that just doesn't fit in? The foreign born couple that live on the next street? The single mom who's at wits' end just trying to keep her family afloat? The Gay folks who are just kind of invisible in our town?

It seems to me that how we treat those around us matters more than what we do in here. Because I bet that what matters more than our approval of God is God's approval rating of us.

What do you think?

Offering Invitation

Jesus told the woman she had great faith. We, too bring our great faith, made even greater by our gifts.

Offertory Prayer

Like the woman in Canaan, many in our community have their world consist of fear, despair, and loneliness. We pray that as we present these gifts they may be used so your presence may be felt and comfort given to all of those who need your loving hand. Amen.

Benediction

Mat the God of creativity be with you on the smooth paths;
Companion Jesus be with you in the storms;
Awakening Spirit be with you at all times.
Amen.

August 14, 2011

August 14, 2011

Pentecost + 9

Morning Prayers

Like the Canaanite woman, let us shout to the Lord for mercy and offer prayers for all in desperate need.

For the people of God in every place.

Lord, have mercy.

For all nations and their leaders, for those who serve, and for mercy, justice, and peace in the world.

Lord, have mercy.

For students and teachers, and all those returning to school.

Lord, have mercy.

For travelers and those on vacation, and for safety from violent storms.

Lord, have mercy.

For dogs, and all domestic and wild animals.

Lord, have mercy.

For the sick and the suffering, prisoners and their families, foreigners and outcasts, and

all in danger and need.

Lord, have mercy.

For those who rest in Christ and for all the dead.

Lord, have mercy.

For our city and those who live in it, and for our families, companions, and all we love.

Lord, have mercy.

God of infinite love, who heals those who call on you, have mercy on us sinners and grant our prayers for all the world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Matthew 15:10-28

¹⁰ Jesus called the crowd near and said to them, “Listen and understand. ¹¹ It’s not what goes into the mouth that contaminates a person in God’s sight. It’s what comes out of the mouth that contaminates the person.”

¹² Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended by what you just said?”

¹³ Jesus replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be pulled up. ¹⁴Leave the Pharisees alone. They are blind people who are guides to blind people. But if a blind person leads another blind person, they will both fall into a ditch.”

¹⁵ Then Peter spoke up, “Explain this riddle to us.”

¹⁶ Jesus said, “Don’t you understand yet? ¹⁷ Don’t you know that everything that goes into the mouth enters the stomach and goes out into the sewer? ¹⁸ But what goes out of the mouth comes from the heart. And that’s what contaminates a person in God’s sight. ¹⁹ Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adultery, sexual sins, thefts, false testimonies, and insults. ²⁰ These contaminate a person in God’s sight. But eating without washing hands doesn’t contaminate in God’s sight.”

²¹ From there, Jesus went to the regions of Tyre and Sidon. ²² A Canaanite woman from those territories came out and shouted, “Show me mercy, Son of David. My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession.” ²³ But he didn’t respond to her at all.

His disciples came and urged him, “Send her away; she keeps shouting out after us.”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “I’ve been sent only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.”

²⁵ But she knelt before him and said, “Lord, help me.”

²⁶ He replied, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and toss it to dogs.”

²⁷ She said, “Yes, Lord. But even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall off their masters’ table.”

²⁸ Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith. It will be just as you wish.” And right then, her daughter was healed.

ᚒ

“Even the Dogs...”

Everything seems to be run by opinion polls, these days. I knew a state legislator in Louisiana who would never answer a question on a particular issue unless he had polling data. He was a terrible legislator and leader, but he kept getting elected!

Look at the public opinion polls for our national servants, and it looks pretty bad for them. Presidents never seem to have positive job approval ratings about them according to the polls—and I don't care which President you're talking about. None of them ever get really high marks.

Congress, bless their pointy little heads, are always lower in job approval ratings than the President—again, no matter who's in charge of the House or Senate.

And so, my interest was piqued this week when I saw a poll by a group called Public Policy Polling which sought to gauge Americans' views on God's job approval rating. Yes, they took a poll on God. Well, you'll be happy to know that God has a higher opinion rating than either the Congress or the President. Seems 52% thought God was doing a good job in running the universe.

71% thought he did a good job in creating the world, though only 50% thought God was doing well in managing nature and natural disasters.

Everybody's a critic.

It occurred to me that Jesus never acted based on opininon polls—and his favor was up and down all the time.

Take today's lesson. Jesus begins by alienating the Pharisees. To be fair, he never had a high approval rating from them. And then he goes off into foreign territory and upsets a Canaanite woman—calls he names. These incidents are related—and not just by Jesus' low approval rating.

Jesus ticks off the Pharisees by going after one of their favorites things—ritual purity. In the world of the Pharisees—and don't think ill of them, they were just trying to be most religious people—like us? Anyway, in their world, you remained pure by eating only the right things—no shrimp, no pork (those are the high points)--and preparing them the right way and preparing to eat the fight way. You had to wash your hands in just the right way—in several places in the Gospels, Jesus is confronted concerning his disciples failure to wash their hands properly before eating. Now, this wasn't about washing up like we do—they had no sense of microbes of any kind. Any deviation from these was considered an abomination. While technically, that would only affect going to the temple, for the Pharisees all of life was to be kept as holy and pure.

But Jesus blows his approval rating by declaring that it doesn't matter how or even if you wash your hands or even what you eat. It isn't what goes into a person that makes one acceptable to God, but what comes out of a person.

It isn't how you wash or what you eat that defines what kind of person you are, what kind of life you live. If your life demonstrates God's love by what you say and do—that's way more important.

And then, Jesus makes his way into the regions of Tyre and Sidon and encounters a local woman who is insistent that Jesus heal her daughter. She's so disruptive that the Disciples try to get Jesus to get rid of her.

Jesus answers her—which gives her instant standing—or if you look at it terms of honor and shame (which proper society was based on), he sunk to her level. Imagine that! An unknown woman from another culture addresses the Rabbi as Son of David (and by extension King). A woman. And a foreigner all rolled into one. A double whammy.

Jesus, despite her addressing him as Son of David, pushes her to the outside margins by declaring he is only there for Jews. What was his approval rating with that woman in that moments? What do you think his job approval rating was with the Disciples?

She persists.

He replies that it would be wrong to give the children's (Jewish people) food and give it to the dogs.

Dogs. Jews called Canaanites dogs because, like dogs, they'd eat anything.

Take a second and think about what Jesus is saying to this woman. He is calling here a female dog—and the word for female dog in his time would ring about the same as our word for female dog would in ours.

And she responds, not with hatred, but with great wit—and in Jesus eyes—great faith. Even the dogs get the crumbs that fall from the table.

And Jesus tells her she has great faith—a phrase that Jesus is stingy with. He tells the Disciples that they have little faith 3 times in Mathew—but never great faith about anyone but this woman.

And while Jesus' job approval rating went up in her eyes, I bet it went down in others who saw this spectacle.

But this incident is a beautiful illustration of the teaching Jesus has just made. Outwardly, this woman has nothing about her that is "clean." But she has two things in her heart that make her right with God: her unwavering, nagging, persistent care for her daughter; and, her unwavering, nagging, persistent trust that Jesus can cure her daughter. And these two things cause Jesus to undergo a change of heart himself.

So what about us? What can we take away from this passage?

It seems to me that we can become pharisaic about our faith, as well. We can think that because we go to church regularly, attend Sunday School, give to the church that we are pretty good people. But we can do all these things and still be rotten to our neighbors and our family. Does being a Disciple of Jesus Christ make a difference that the people we encounter in the world can see?

Does being a Disciple force us to look beyond ourselves our own kind to include the outcasts—the Canaanite women of the world? Who would those outsiders be? The kid on your block that just doesn't fit in? The foreign born couple that live on the next street? The single mom who's at wits' end just trying to keep her family afloat? The Gay folks who are just kind of invisible in our town?

It seems to me that how we treat those around us matters more than what we do in here. Because I bet that what matters more than our approval of God is God's approval rating of us.

What do you think?

Offering Invitation

Jesus told the woman she had great faith. We, too bring our great faith, made even greater by our gifts.

Offertory Prayer

Like the woman in Canaan, many in our community have their world consist of fear, despair, and loneliness. We pray that as we present these gifts they may be used so your presence may be felt and comfort given to all of those who need your loving hand. Amen.

Benediction

Mat the God of creativity be with you on the smooth paths;
Companion Jesus be with you in the storms;
Awakening Spirit be with you at all times.
Amen.

Worship, August 7, 2011

August 7, 2011

Pentecost + 8

1. Romans 10:5-15

⁵ (For) Moses writes concerning the righteousness that comes from the law, that “the person who does these things will live by them.” ⁶But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. ¹¹The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”

¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. ¹³For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” ¹⁴But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? ¹⁵And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

How Can They Hear?

I had a conversation with a word last week--a lost word, if you will. She was down on Fourth Street walking with the words of ill repute. Her name is Evangelism.

I said to her, “What’s a nice word like you doing in a place like this?”

She answered, “I used to be a nice word, but not anymore.”

“What happened,” I asked.

“Well, the folks in nice respectable churches like yours won’t use me at all. They act like they’re scared of me. Some of them even call me the ‘E’ word-like I’m something dirty. I don’t like that. And the folks in some other churches use me to try to scare people or make them feel stupid. I don’t need that either. So, I might as well be down here.”

We continued our conversation, and I convinced her to come back to church--this church--so that we can take a look at her at find out who she really is. And so today, we proudly welcome Evangelism back to her home, to study her, and who knows, maybe even give her an honest living.

Before we get to evangelism, we need to spend a little bit of time with Paul and talk about Law and Christ. Sometimes, we’ll hear people try to contrast the Old and New Testaments with the terms Law and Grace. I think you can find an awful lot of Grace in the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures, so that discussion is not important.

What Paul thinks is important in his letter to the church at Rome is the contrast between Law and Christ. In the verse immediately preceding this passage, he states that Jesus Christ is the end of the Law--which for a Pharisaic Rabbi (which Paul was) is a huge thing to say. But what does he mean by that?

The Law was the gift given to the Israelites by God as a way to bring humans and God together--so that the humans could tune into God’s wavelength. The Law was a set of standards that established the boundaries of the kind of behavior which would be acceptable to God. By keeping the commandments of the Law, human beings could be reconciled--made one--with God.

And when he quotes Deuteronomy, here, he does something a little tricky. In Deuteronomy, the quote, “the word is very near to you,” referes to the commandments. But for Paul, he means the Cosmic Word--Jesus Christ.

You see the word that he uses for end can mean termination--as in Jesus’ coming ends the law. But the word can also mean fulfillment--as in, all of the law and prophets pointed to Jesus and are fulfilled in his being. The tricky part is, both meanings apply, and Jesus is the word that is near to us--on our lips and on our hearts.

Under the legal system of the commandments, faith was something you followed. But in Christ, faith is something you live.

Under the Law, the commandments set boundaries on what you were to do and believe. But in Christ, Jesus is the center of whom we are as Christians. Can you appreciate that move--from the boundaries to the center.

And now, here’s where we get to evangelism. Paul writes that people won’t know about Jesus unless they are told. The late great Sri Lankan evangelist D.T. Niles once described evangelism as one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.

The best evangelism is not shouting from street corners or even packing stadiums with crowds to hear a great preacher. It’s simply one person whose life has been changed by living in Jesus Christ who shares that with another. It’s someone whose life is so full of Jesus Christ.

There developed a term some years ago called lifestyle evangelism. It came about in the same time as the demise of Evangelism Committees in our churches. It’s a great idea, this notion that if you live your life Christ, others will notice and flock to church simply because you go there.

First, living a Christ-like life is important--and any attempt to bear witness to Jesus without actually living in his way is hollow and fake. But it’s not enough. We need to be authentically Christian in our lives, but also vocal in our faith.

Before I went to seminary, I was a literacy volunteer. My first student was a man named Larry--a kind of rough fellow, but with a good heart. It was in our third session when we were working through our workbook, and all of a sudden, he turned to me and said, “Why do you do this?” And there was the perfect opportunity to share my faith and invite him to church. I don’t tell that story to brag--trust me, I could teol you a hundred stories of missed opportunities.--but because I want you to it’s possible.

Our Home and Away teams are busy is trying map out what may be our next steps. Let me drop this bomb. Whether we stay or go, we have to change. We must become an invitational church--a church where inviting and welcoming others becomes second nature.

Here’s an important statistic. In a poll taken of church members about how they came to the church they now attend, over 70% responded that someone invited them. We can spend thousands on billboards and or try to attract folks with a new sign, but nothing is as effective as one beggar telling another where to find bread. We can’t wait on the Home & Away Reports to become and invitational church.

Now, we don’t invite others because we need more seats in the pews or more dollars in the offering plates. That has a stench people can smell from a mile away.

We don’t invite people to save the world. God has already done that.

We invite to provide an encounter with Jesus Christ in music, word, and bread and wine. We invite to offer others the opportunity to share what we have in Christ.

Back to the word itself. Evangelism means the bringing of Good News. That’s all. Good News. And as Paul writes, it--Good News lived from the inside out, so that the natural extension of faith is invitation. By living our faith--inside and out--we can rehabilitate evangelism into a good, honest word, again.

Do you believe we have good news to share at FCC? That’s not rhetorical. Do we have good news to share? Let’s get to it.

Worship, Sunday, July 17, 2011

July 17, 2011

Pentecost + 5

Morning Prayers

Let us offer prayers to God who judges us with mildness and governs us with great forbearance.

For the people of God in every place.

Lord, have mercy.

For all nations, peoples, tribes, clans, and families.

Lord, have mercy.

For mercy, justice, and peace in the world.

Lord, have mercy.

For those who sow and those who reap the harvest, for those on vacation, and for safety from violent storms.

Lord, have mercy.

For all those in danger and need: the sick and the dying, the poor and the oppressed, travelers and prisoners, and for their families.

Lord, have mercy.

For those who rest in Christ and for all the dying.

Lord, have mercy.

For ourselves, our families, our companions, and all those we love.

Lord, have mercy.

O God of all, hear our prayers for those we love, whether spoken aloud or in silence. We pray through and with our Savior, Jesus. Amen.

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

²⁴He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; ²⁵but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. ²⁶So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. ²⁷And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ ²⁸He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. ³⁰Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

³⁶Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” ³⁷He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; ³⁸the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, ³⁹and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age.⁴¹The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, ⁴²and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ⁴³Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

“Leaving the Weeds to God”

A wonderful story is told of W.C. Bower, who taught at Lexington Seminary before my lifetime. The Professor was on a preaching assignment somewhere in Kentucky and read this passage prior to beginning his sermon.

As it happens sometimes in little churches in Kentucky people just blurt things out, and after his reading, a old woman jumped up from her pew, spit out a full set of uppers and lowers and yelled, “how can there be gnashing of teeth if ya’ ain’t got no teeth?”

Dr. Bower didn’t miss a beat. He looked at her calmly and said, “teeth will be provided.”

Before the weeping and gnashing of teeth, we hear a parable commonly known as the Wheat and the Tares. A tare is a darnel grass which looks remarkably like wheat until it goes to seed--and its seeds are poisonous. And the parable compares the wheat with good folks, the tares with not-so-good folks, and that the best way to deal with them is to leave it to God to sort the wheat from the tares.

Kate and I just returned from the General Assembly of the Christian Church in Nashville, TN. And we’re grateful to the Permanent Fund Committee and the Church Board for making that possible.

We visited the Disciples of Christ Historical Society--where Nina's daughter Sharmin works, and which I recommend to anyone--it’s even worth a special trip to Nashville.

In one of the exhibit rooms there is a display of famous Disciples--including our three Disciples Presidents--James A, Garfield, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Ronald Reagan.

Over in the corner, a display honoring Coach John Wooden, the late great Disciples’ Deacon and amazing Basketball Coach.

Carrie Nation--the women’s Temperance leader has a display.

Hoagy Carmichael, the great songwriter, is shown there.

Clara Hale Babcock, the first Disciples’ woman ordained to ministry in 1888, is there, too.

But right alongside these famous Disciples are some of a more infamous nature.

There’s Janis Joplin--who, if you like screaming, was one of the greatest rock and roll singers. She died of a heroin overdose at age 27. A note to that effect is written on the back of her baptismal record card--which is part of the exhibit.

Then there’s John Dillinger. There’s a picture of his home church and a copy of the sermon that was preached there on the occasion of his funeral. Even Dillinger got a Christian funeral.

And then, maybe the most infamous of all Disciples characters--Jim Jones--who became more important than the Gospel and took more that 700 people to their deaths in Guyana in 1978.

And there they all are--just like the wheat and the tares--right there together in the same display room, waiting for God to sort them out, so to speak.

Perhaps the most important thing that was said at General Assembly this year was in a sermon by Holly McKissick--a Kansas Pastor who did a masterful job with the opening sermon.

A theme she kept returning to was, “What do you say to someone who asks, 'your church seems to be important to you. Why is that?'”

Now the theme of the Assembly was “Tell It,” and so she kept answering that question until she got it right. What would you say? How about, “my church doesn’t have all the answers, but we welcome people who have questions. We don't spend all our time trying to divide the world into Gay or Straight, Black or White, or even Brown or White or Liberal or Conservative. Instead, we believe God calls us to be together and work together for all God's children.

In other words, we are not a weed pulling church. The weeds are best left to God's care. We don’t uproot others as if they have no worth--that’s God’s purview. We are called to take care of ourselves, encourage each other, but condemn? No. That’s up to God.

Jesus had another saying--one about not pointing out the speck in someone else’s eye if you’ve a massive block of wood in your own.

Perhaps that’s applicable here. Let’s not be hasty about pulling other weeds when our own souls are full of them.

David Ewart writes: “This is a parable about the field - about the collective experience. It should be interpreted as a comment on the collective experience of the whole world; or a whole church; or a whole person - in all cases we find an unavoidable, inseparable mixture of good and bad, wheat and weeds together sown. According to this parable, we should expect that to be true; and we should not expect that God is going to come and take out all the bad things and make everything and everyone wholly good and pure.

Notice that all is not lost; all is not left muddled and pointless. At the end, the weeds are separated and burned. At the end, what is pleasing to God is taken in to God's care and keeping. But remember, think of yourself as the field. At the harvest, the weeds in you are removed, and the wheat in you is gathered in to God’s heavenly kingdom.

What kind of field are you living in? If that field is the whole you--your whole being, you are probably a mix of weeds and wheat. The great psychologist Carl Jung posited that each of us--even the best of us--has a shadow side. Sounds a lot like weeds. Try as we might, that shadow side resists pulling. And yet, God pulls us to the good by his spirit.

And so, what answer would you give if someone who notices that you are a faithful person asks about your church. How would you answer someone who asks, “Your church seems important to you. Why is that?”

While you're thinking about it, let offer a possible answer:

My church is the kind of church where God loves everyone enough to accept them as they are, but too much to leave us as we are. We're accepted just as we are--warts and all--or should I say weeds and all. We don't judge each other and hold out hope for everyone. Some of us may believe that, in the end, teeth may be provided--but all of us believe that, more importantly, Grace will be provided.

I don't know about you, but that sounds like a church worth having. Do you feel that way about your church?

Invitation
Holy Manna... bread from heaven... "Give us this day our daily bread," Jesus taught us to pray. God is faithful, meeting our basic needs day by day. Of course, our hands are involved in the making of this bread. But, in the returning of our offerings we are affirming, once again, that all good gifts originate in the hands of God. Our giving helps spread God's "sweet manna all around."

Prayer
Gracious God, you know us very well. As you see the giver behind each gift, look past our mixed motivations to our heart of hearts. May the seeds of your faithfulness grow there, such that our giving and living become acts of faith, not desperation. We pray in the name of the One who said, "I am the bread of life." Amen.

BENEDICTION

Go in peace, love and care for one another in the name of Christ; and may all the blessings of God - Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer-- rest upon you and abide with you, both now and forevermore. Amen.

Worship for Sunday, July 3, 2011

July 3, 2011

Pentecost + 3

Prayers of the People

All who are weary and heavy burdened, come let us offer prayers to our God and Father.

For this gathering and for the people of God in every place.

Lord, have mercy.

For all nations, peoples, tribes, clans, and families.

Lord, have mercy.

For mercy, peace, and justice in the world, and for our armed forces everywhere. For our national leaders--Barack, Joe, Sherrod, Rob, and Jim.

Lord, have mercy.

For all those in danger and need: the sick and the suffering, the poor and the oppressed,

prisoners and their families.

Lord, have mercy.

For the dying and the dead.

Lord, have mercy.

For all those captive to sin.

Lord, have mercy.

For ourselves, our families, our companions, and all those we love--whether named aloud or remembered in silence.

Lord, have mercy.

Lord of heaven and earth, hear the prayers we offer today, teach us the secrets of your

heart, and give us rest from our trials; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

¹⁶“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ¹⁷‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’¹⁸For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; ¹⁹the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” ²⁵At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; ²⁶yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. ²⁷All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ²⁸“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

“The Easy Yoke”

Here we are, today, stuck in the middle between the patriotic fervor of the culture around us, and the easy Yoke to which Jesus calls us.

While patriotism is important to us, it was not terribly important to Jesus. I ran across an address by our denomination's founder, Alexander Campbell some time back on patriotism.

Patriotism, it is conceded, has no special place in the Christian religion. [Jesus Christ] never pronounced a single sentence in commendation of it. The reason is, I presume to say, that the world was his field, and as patriotism is only an extension of the principle of selfishness, he deigned it no regard; because selfishness is now the great and damning sin of [hu]mankind. Still, the very test of morality is self-love. We are commanded to love our neighbor as we love ourselves, neither more nor less. And in his enlarged mind and heart, our neighbor is every [one] in the world. Charity, it is said, begins at home, but at home it does not stay. It goes abroad, and radiates its blessings according to its strength, to the utmost domicile of [humanity]. But few [men] can extend their charity, in its special currency, beyond their village, their parish, or their church. Still, when the frozen Icelander or the sunburned Moor comes within our sphere of doing good, we will, as we ought, pour into his wounds and bruises the soothing and mollifying ointment of Christian benevolence.

Campbell saw patriotism as a kind of selfishness--and, as a patriot, I might want to argue with that a little bit--but he has a point. Anytime we hold ourselves too close and keep our "sphere of doing good," as he calls it, too small, we are missing Christ's point. God calls us to look beyond our borders and boundaries.
Today's lesson is not primarily one about patriotism, but about burden.

Jesus’ time was filled with burden.

The Roman occupiers financially burdened the people as well.

The poor were burdened with sacrifices they could not afford.

The Pharisees were making sure that no one violated the Sabbath--even at the expense of human life.

And in this mix, Jesus steps up and calls out to all who are burdened, all who have broken down by the demands religion--come to me, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke--but it’s an easy yoke.

Most yokes of that day were designed to pair two animals to work together. Now, I have told you in the past of my reluctance to be compared to a sheep, and while livestock is not my thing, this yoke thing isn’t so bad.

Why? Because, to use the metaphor, If my shoulders are against one side, it’s Jesus on the other. Jesus will bear all of the burden that we give to him.

On this weekend of celebration in freedom, Jesus calls us to real freedom--a freedom not bound by national lines or borders, a freedom not earned but bestowed by the loving grace of God. And it is a freedom which transcends ideology.

I’ve told you before about my trip to Cuba a few years back. We went to study the church, there, as it was thriving despite the heavy hand of the communist government. The faith of those wonderful people showed in every aspect of their lives as they celebrated Jesus Christ and his yoke.

But, I have to tell you, I felt a gnawing something not quite right. It fixed itself when I was back in the U.S. I wanted to shout out Walter Scott’s poem, “this is my own, my native land!”

But God continually reminds us that the call is to take care that our love of country doesn't become nationalism--which is a patriotism that excludes all others. Nationalism can take the good of patriotism and make it a burden that does not ring of freedom.
Yes, God called one nation in ancient times--but called them to be a light unto all the nations--to be a mirror to God’s love so that it would shine on all.
The lessons are continual throughout the scriptures. We are called to color outside the lines, like God does, and remember, as Paul tells us, that our citizenship is in heaven.
Even in the midst of struggle, this is a story of good news. There is healing and wholeness for strangers, and peace for those who welcome them, and an easy yoke for all who respond to the savior’s loving call. What do you think?

Offering Invitation

My yoke is easy and my burden is light. We give, not because we must, but because we may. May we give generously to the kingdom’s cause.

Offertory Prayer

Lord, we commit these gifts to you. We commit them and our lives to your glory and your work. Loving and generous God, we ask that you use these gifts to stretch our hands beyond these walls and into your world. Amen.

Benediction

In the power of the Holy Spirit we now go forth into the world, to fulfill our calling as the people of God, the body of Christ.

Go in peace - love and care for one another in the name of Christ Jesus

- and may the love of God fill you,

- the wisdom of God guide you,

- and the strength of God support you and comfort you, both now and forevermore. Amen

Worship for Trinity Sunday/Fathers' Day June 19, 2011

June 19, 2011

Trinity Sunday

Call to Worship

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,

and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

And also with you.

Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

Glory be to the Father who created the world and all that it is in it.

Hear O People of God, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

Glory be to the Son, who was with God and was God and who became flesh and lived among us full of grace and truth.

Hear O Servants of God, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.

Glory be to the Spirit, the living water,

and dwells within us and all who call on God's name and who helps us and guides us day by day

Come - drink from the well that springs up to eternal life

and give praise and thanks to our God who is One.

Prayer

Lord God, you who create us - and redeem us - and sustain us - we rejoice that you have chosen us to be your own and that you visit us and dwell with

us and open to us the way to abundant life. By your Word the heavens and the earth were made. By the bounty of your mercy in Christ Jesus we have been born to new life. Your Spirit fills the whole world with your loving kindness and gives us the power we need to be your witnesses. Bring us closer to you and to one another and in our prayer and our thanksgiving, our hearing and our speaking, and our giving and receiving make us more completely yours. We ask it in the name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Spirit, one God, now and forevermore. Amen

Commissioning of Otter Campers

We of the congregation are sending you to Camp Christian Today so that you may grow in faith as Jesus grew in his faith.

And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and people.

We hope you will grow in the spirit of God…

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

We want you learn the lessons of nature:

Look at the birds of the air, and consider the lilies of the fields, and do not be anxious.

Have fun, and remember those whose gifts make it possible to attend, and pray for us as we will pray for you.

We always thank God in remembrance of you, in every prayer. Go in the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Spirit.

We pray for these beautiful children today, that you will bless them with fun and fellowship this week. May all that they do be to the good of their bodies, minds, and spirits. We ask you in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Prayers of the People

We thank you God for how your Wisdom calls to us, for how your Spirit speaks to us, for how your Word reaches out to our souls. Grant O God that each of us may have a growing faith and a deepening love, that we may confess with our lips that Jesus is Lord, and believe in our hearts that he is alive within us.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray today for all Fathers--with thanksgiving for those self-sacrificing men who believed enough in your future to bring children into the world. Lift them up and bless them, Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We also pray to you for those named in our updates, we pray both in thankfulness and in intercession, for healing for them and for those we now name in silence...Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Lord, we pray for all nations, that there may be an end to all injustice, poverty, persecution, and especially for a just reconciliation between nations at war. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

We pray for each person in this congregation today, with personal worry, heartache, pain or distress, that these be given recovery of courage and peace of mind: Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Most loving God, source of all grace, light, and peace, restore to all people the joy and health of Your salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives with you and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and evermore. Amen

Matthew 28:16-20

¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.

And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

“Not Alone”

As I have told you before, Trinity Sunday is somewhat problematic for Disciples pastors and preaching. My colleagues in other denominations are happily explaining away the traditional doctrines of the Trinity. Telling stories of monks who admitted not understanding it, but accepting that their superiors understood it, that was good enough for them. Expounding at length on the paradoxical meaning of one God in three persons.

Not me. Not most of our Disciples pastors. Like Alexander Campbell before us, we're heretics when it comes to doctrines of the Trinity. Trinitarian doctrine is an idea that demands to be served, whereas good theology serves the people who are trying to understand God. Good Theology serves to make it easier to understand God--not merely ideas about God.

So, why, you may be wondering, why am I standing here on Trinity Sunday, trying to explain this to you.

I'm wondering the same thing, actually.

The classical doctrine of the Trinity may or may not be helpful, but we need the Spirit.

I could not do what I do and pray with people for healing and wholeness without a sense of the ways in which God is known to me. God is my Father/Mother--creator of all that is. God over us.

God the Son is my redeemer--God like us who is for us and with us.

And God the Spirit is within us--the very air we breathe, as close to us as our own heartbeats.

Jesus’ followers in the Gospel of Matthew didn’t understand these things--they weren’t able to make sense out of anything they’d experienced of late.

Their Lord had been arrested, tried, executed, and come back to like, and now what? The text says they worshipped him--but some doubted. Not just Thomas, as John reports, but some--plural--doubted.

That’s not surprising. They were confused and disoriented. Now what?

Jesus tells them that they are to go out into all the world and make disciples of all nations. The Greek word used here--eqnasin ethnasin--doesn’t mean nations in the way we think of them. Not countries with sovereign governments. No, it means others--as in not us, not Jews. Ethnasin--ethnics.

Jesus is telling his little band of fishermen and a political activist and a tax collector that they are to go to people not-like-us and teach them about himself.

These men were all Jews, and they knew their Bible. They knew that God had promised Abraham that all the tribes of the earth would one day be brought into God’s family through Abraham and his children.

But, as Tom Long points out, it’s a lot easier to take when it’s written in the prayer book than personally strapping on your sandals to go get this thing accomplished yourself.

Telling the disciples--this confused and unsettled little band that they were to go out to all the world and herd all the foreigners of earth toward God in the name of Jesus would be like standing in front of you today and saying, “go out into all the world and cure cancer, clean up the world, evangelize the unbelievers, oh, and while you’re at it, make world peace.”

And that is the point. They (and we) are being asked to do something absolutely impossible, which means we can only do this by throwing ourselves completely on the mercy of God, and leaning on his strength.

All authority, Jesus says, is not ours, but his. And therefore, we are not commanded here not to utilize our own strength and resources, but throw ourselves entirely on Jesus Christ, in whom God has invested power, and who is willing to always be present to the church.

That’s the real meaning of the Trinity. God the Father--the creator--is over all, God the son--the redeemer--is God with us and for us, and God the Spirit is God the sustainer--God within us. One God know to us in many ways, and beyond being contained by any names or descriptions we my try to use.

And the point is not in understanding God, but rather in knowing and experiencing God.

This is Fathers’ Day. A day in which we give thanks for our Fathers, and those of us who’ve been blessed to be Fathers can quake in our shoes and pray that we’ve be Good Fathers. Fathers’ Day is not a holiday I look forward to--because I’ve never thought of myself as a good father.

Some people are natural parents, but not me. My children are 28 and 22 and I’m still growing into the role.

If I’ve been a good father at all, it is only to the extent that I have thrown myself on the strength and mercy of God the father, whose Son walks my path with me, and depending entirely on the spirit of God within.

Fathers, don’t lean on your own strength, but trust in God. Remember that you have been baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Spirit. That wasn’t just something the preacher said to fill up the silence. There’s power in those words and in knowing to whom you belong.

It occurred to me this week that we have a remembrance of our baptism every year on the church calendar day called the “Baptism of Our Lord” in January. Sometimes, we get our hands wet and say “I am baptized!”

We should maybe spread that activity around a little. Maybe we should do that on Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day--we could put our hands in the water and remind ourselves, “I am baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit”--so that we can apply the power of that memory to the awesome responsibility of parenting.

Maybe we should remind ourselves of this constantly. What activity that you do can you think of that wouldn’t be bettered by leaning ourselves entirely on our relationship with the fullness of God known to us as Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer? Let us give thanks today that by virtue of our baptism, we fully belong to God in life, in death, and in life beyond death.

Let’s celebrate this together. Repeat after me:

I am baptized!

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit,

I am baptized!

Thanks be to God! Amen.

Offering Invitation

Giving is a matter of worship, not a business transaction. Let us prayerfully offer our gifts to the Lord’s work.

Offertory Prayer

Almighty God, we gather in the name of the one to whom all authority is given – Jesus, our Christ. As we offer you this money, you ask us to renew our commitment to be your faith-filled disciples. May our lifestyles reflect a desire to be in mission for others. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.

Benediction

And now, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Spirit guide and protect you, now and each day forward.

Amen.