This experience is not foreign to us. We all know people who have walked away when God turned out not to be what they thought, when God couldn't fix the pain of being human and loving other people. We all know those people...we all are those people.
For the past couple of months I have felt anger. Anger with God. Anger with the Church. Anger with people. And mostly, anger with myself.
For the past couple of months I have felt disappointment. Disappointment in God. Disappointment in the Church. Disappointment in people. And mostly, disappointment in myself.
For the past couple of months I have felt bitterness. Bitterness towards God. Bitterness towards the Church. Bitterness towards people. And mostly, bitterness towards myself.
For the past couple of months I have felt guilt. Guilt about feeling angry. Guilt about feeling disappointed. Guilt about feeling bitter. And mostly, guilt about feeling guilty.
I was hurting so much that I didn't feel like I could go to church. I felt like it was fraudulent for me to go to a place where I had to sing along to some songs and pray along with the congregation and pretend that everything was okay. What was the point?
Until this past Sunday. Sunday I experienced the most beautiful moment of realization. It happened during Holy Communion. I went to Blue Lake to celebrate 60 years of ministry at "Blue Lake Day". I sat through worship...barely singing along to the songs I knew. Then a lady read the scripture lesson for the day. Then Bishop Leeland gave his message. Then...Holy Communion.
I read the part of the "people" when it was time, and started paying attention to the words. It was possibly the most beautiful, yet simple Communion liturgy I've ever seen or heard. When it was time, I went forward to receive Communion. It was the moment that Bishop Leeland pushed that piece of broken pita bread into my hand and said, "The body of Christ broken for you, Brittany. The body of Christ broken for you my dear, dear, friend" that I realized that those words are what it's all about. It's about the body. It's about brokenness. It's about being and living into what it means to be broken and be the body of Christ.
I realized at that moment, that when I am hurting so much that I can't possibly sing a single verse of Amazing Grace...that it is the Church that is there to sing it for me.
When I am hurting so much that I can’t find the words to muster up to spew at God, it is the Church that is there to say those prayers for me.
When I am hurting so much that I can’t even remember what it was like to believe in God, it is the Church that is there to affirm our faith in God.
When I am hurting so much that I feel like there’s not a table where I deserve to be fed, it is the Church that is there to pull out a chair and remind me that I am always welcome at Christ’s table.
When I fall down...when I am hurting the most, it is the Church that is there to wrap me in her loving arms of ritual and grace and rock me until I feel whole enough to stand up and run back outside to play.
Communion liturgy, Blue Lake Day October 4, 2009
Communal Prayer
Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to God.
Lift up your heads. We lift them up to God.
Lift up your voices. We lift them up to God.
Lift up your hearts. We lift them up to God.
We praise you for your unswerving love for us.
Though we are fragile, though we are wounded,
though we are broken, you have never stopped loving us
and you have never forsaken us.
You take what is broken and transform it through your death and love.
What once was hurt, what once was friction, what left a mark,
no longer stings because grace makes beauty out of ugly things.
So we join the angels singing
Holy, Holy, Holy
Holy, Holy, Holy
Lord God Almighty
Lord God Almighty
Heaven and earth are full of your glory
Heaven and earth are full of your glory
Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna in the highest
In your last meal with your friends, before your betrayal,
You took the bread and gave thanks.
You broke it and shared it saying ‘take and eat. This is My body
broken for you.’
Christ’s body is broken.
We are Christ’s body. We are broken.
May Christ’s broken body nourish you in all the right places.
You took the cup of wine, gave thanks and shared it saying ‘drink
this, My blood shed for you.’
Christ’s body is wounded.
We are Christ’s body. We are wounded.
May the blood that flowed from Christ’s wounds heal you in all the
right places.
Send Your Holy Spirit on us, heal our brokenness
by showing us our place in Your community of faith.
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
This is the table of Christ.
Today it is literally made of our brokenness,
a sign that Christ welcomes us all as we are.
There is no need to pretend and no need to hide.
So gather at this table, not because you are whole
but because you recognize our need for healing
not because you are good enough
but because you recognize the gifts of God.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Nostalgic Rage
these are the songs that you taught my heart to sing
only, without you near the melodies don’t sound nearly so sweet
in my hands I hold the heart that you created and molded from the soft earthen clay
with each tear that falls from my eyes and strikes the clay
a small piece of it slips between my fingers and hits the ground.
how many bitter tears will it take before that heart becomes what it feels like:
a dissolving pile of mud…melting away…piece by piece
only, without you near the melodies don’t sound nearly so sweet
in my hands I hold the heart that you created and molded from the soft earthen clay
with each tear that falls from my eyes and strikes the clay
a small piece of it slips between my fingers and hits the ground.
how many bitter tears will it take before that heart becomes what it feels like:
a dissolving pile of mud…melting away…piece by piece
Monday, May 4, 2009
Three Simple Questions from the modern day John Wesley?
I found this paper which are my responses to the three answers to Adam Hamilton's questions at last year's annual conference. Our District Superintendent asked a person from each church to answer them at our "combined" charge conference this year, and here's what I said!
1. Why do people need Jesus?
2. Why do people need the local church?
3. Why do people need this particular church?
When I first thought about these questions, I assumed they would be very easy to answer, but as I soon discovered, these questions are not as simple as they seem. They are quite complex and require a lot of thought about the very core of what it means to live a life of faith and choose moment by moment to believe in a God that is mysterious, yet constantly reveals God's self to people in a very real way.
1. Why do people need Jesus?
The Apostles' Creed is the ancient creed of Baptism; it is used in the Church's daily worship to recall our Baptismal covenant.
Often in churches on Sunday mornings, we affirm our faith together by reciting the Apostles' creed.
"I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord."
But what do we mean when we say that Jesus Christ is the only son of God?
It means that Jesus is the only perfect image of God the Father, and shows us the true nature of God. That nature, revealed through Christ, is simple. God is Love. Love God. Love people.
The overarching theme throughout the Bible is love. God says, "I love you. You should love me and you should love each other." Yet throughout history, we have failed. Epic fail.
Because we are a broken people, without Christ's example of love, we could never grasp what it looks like to truly love God or love our neighbor. But because God sent God's self to dwell amidst a fallen world, we have an opportunity for reconciliation, and an opportunity to live in such a way that we can relate to God and each other the way that God intended for us to.
2. Why do people need the local church?
First of all, I don't believe that this building is a church. I believe that each and every person within this building are the pieces that mold together to form this particular local church.
The United Methodist Book of Discipline states that the mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ by proclaiming the good news of God's grace and by exemplifying Jesus' command to love God and neighbor, thus seeking the fulfillment of God's reign and realm in the world.
To carry out the mission for the church as stated by the Book of Discipline to make disciples of Jesus Christ, the church must proclaim the gospel. It must seek, welcome and gather persons into the body of Christ. The church must lead persons to commit their lives to God through baptism by water and profession of faith in Jesus Christ. It must nurture persons in Christian living through worship, the sacraments, spiritual disciplines, and other means of grace. And it must send people into the world to live lovingly and justly as servants of Christ by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, caring for the stranger, freeing the oppressed, being and becoming a compassionate, caring presence, and working to develop social structures that are consistent with the gospel.
Jesus' main goal was to create a community that shared his mission. In other words, a people who intentionally desire to live as Christ's community in the world. The church is a tangible experience of Christ's intention for people to live in community.
So I've talked about what the purpose and mission of the "big-C-church" or the church universal is, but why do people need this particular congregation? Which is my third and final question.
3. Why do people need this particular church?
I can only speak to my own experience, so I will explain why I needed and need Mt. Zion as my own local congregation. When I came to Mt. Zion I was overwhelmed by the warmth and inclusion I experienced from the people that I met here. As a child, when visiting Mt. Zion I just thought it was a weird church that made my boy friends wear funny looking dresses to go light some candles. As a teenager, I made some long-lasting friendships with the youth from Mt. Zion. And as a young adult/college student, I have found a place that I feel safe, comfortable, and has become a place that I feel like I can come "home" to. This church has supported me in my journey through the past few years, and I am so thankful to have the people of this church as friends, but more importantly as family.
As far as what other people have experienced in this place, I can only assume that other's have witnessed the same love, encouragement, and wealth of opportunity that Mt. Zion has to offer. I believe this place has the potential to be the change in this community that we long to see, and I believe that the people of this church will do what it takes to be that change.
All I know is that when the people of this congregation love, they love hard. I have experienced that love, and I'm thankful for every one that has ever done their part to make me feel at home here.
1. Why do people need Jesus?
2. Why do people need the local church?
3. Why do people need this particular church?
When I first thought about these questions, I assumed they would be very easy to answer, but as I soon discovered, these questions are not as simple as they seem. They are quite complex and require a lot of thought about the very core of what it means to live a life of faith and choose moment by moment to believe in a God that is mysterious, yet constantly reveals God's self to people in a very real way.
1. Why do people need Jesus?
The Apostles' Creed is the ancient creed of Baptism; it is used in the Church's daily worship to recall our Baptismal covenant.
Often in churches on Sunday mornings, we affirm our faith together by reciting the Apostles' creed.
"I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord."
But what do we mean when we say that Jesus Christ is the only son of God?
It means that Jesus is the only perfect image of God the Father, and shows us the true nature of God. That nature, revealed through Christ, is simple. God is Love. Love God. Love people.
The overarching theme throughout the Bible is love. God says, "I love you. You should love me and you should love each other." Yet throughout history, we have failed. Epic fail.
Because we are a broken people, without Christ's example of love, we could never grasp what it looks like to truly love God or love our neighbor. But because God sent God's self to dwell amidst a fallen world, we have an opportunity for reconciliation, and an opportunity to live in such a way that we can relate to God and each other the way that God intended for us to.
2. Why do people need the local church?
First of all, I don't believe that this building is a church. I believe that each and every person within this building are the pieces that mold together to form this particular local church.
The United Methodist Book of Discipline states that the mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ by proclaiming the good news of God's grace and by exemplifying Jesus' command to love God and neighbor, thus seeking the fulfillment of God's reign and realm in the world.
To carry out the mission for the church as stated by the Book of Discipline to make disciples of Jesus Christ, the church must proclaim the gospel. It must seek, welcome and gather persons into the body of Christ. The church must lead persons to commit their lives to God through baptism by water and profession of faith in Jesus Christ. It must nurture persons in Christian living through worship, the sacraments, spiritual disciplines, and other means of grace. And it must send people into the world to live lovingly and justly as servants of Christ by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, caring for the stranger, freeing the oppressed, being and becoming a compassionate, caring presence, and working to develop social structures that are consistent with the gospel.
Jesus' main goal was to create a community that shared his mission. In other words, a people who intentionally desire to live as Christ's community in the world. The church is a tangible experience of Christ's intention for people to live in community.
So I've talked about what the purpose and mission of the "big-C-church" or the church universal is, but why do people need this particular congregation? Which is my third and final question.
3. Why do people need this particular church?
I can only speak to my own experience, so I will explain why I needed and need Mt. Zion as my own local congregation. When I came to Mt. Zion I was overwhelmed by the warmth and inclusion I experienced from the people that I met here. As a child, when visiting Mt. Zion I just thought it was a weird church that made my boy friends wear funny looking dresses to go light some candles. As a teenager, I made some long-lasting friendships with the youth from Mt. Zion. And as a young adult/college student, I have found a place that I feel safe, comfortable, and has become a place that I feel like I can come "home" to. This church has supported me in my journey through the past few years, and I am so thankful to have the people of this church as friends, but more importantly as family.
As far as what other people have experienced in this place, I can only assume that other's have witnessed the same love, encouragement, and wealth of opportunity that Mt. Zion has to offer. I believe this place has the potential to be the change in this community that we long to see, and I believe that the people of this church will do what it takes to be that change.
All I know is that when the people of this congregation love, they love hard. I have experienced that love, and I'm thankful for every one that has ever done their part to make me feel at home here.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Easter 3 Year B
Mt. Zion United Methodist Church
Andalusia, AL
April 26, 2009
Our text today comes from the gospel according to Luke, chapter 24, verses 36 through 49. .
36While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate in their presence. 44Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Have you ever had an experience that was so strange that you had to re-orient your entire thinking to explain the experience?
Experiences can overwhelm us, experiences can dazzle us. Sometimes experiences change us.
But there are those rare experiences that leave us completely flustered. We cannot give the experience a context. The experience does not change what we know or feel. It does not even change the way we live. The strange nature of the experience challenges us to seek a completely new understanding, a completely different context if you will.
One example of such an experience comes from an NPR article I read recently by Sara Miles, author of the book Take This Bread.
In the article, she says:
Until recently, I thought being a Christian was all about belief. I didn't know any Christians, but I considered them people who believed in the virgin birth, for example, the way I believed in photosynthesis or germs.
But then, in an experience I still can't logically explain, I walked into a church and a stranger handed me a chunk of bread. Suddenly, I knew that it was made out of real flour and water and yeast — yet I also knew that God, named Jesus, was alive and in my mouth.
That first communion knocked me upside-down. Faith turned out not to be abstract at all, but material and physical. I'd thought Christianity meant angels and trinities and being good. Instead, I discovered a religion rooted in the most ordinary yet subversive practice: a dinner table where everyone is welcome, where the despised and outcasts are honored.
I came to believe that God is revealed not only in bread and wine during church services, but whenever we share food with others — particularly strangers. I came to believe that the fruits of creation are for everyone, without exception — not something to be doled out to insiders or the "deserving."
Similar to Sara Miles’ story, the disciples in today’s text had to find a context to give their experience or their inner yearnings a true home.
Today is the second Sunday after Easter. Today, we continue to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ—and today, we hear the conclusion of the story according to Luke.
The first thing Luke tells us is that the risen Lord appears to the disciples and says to them, “Peace be with you.”
And the Bible tells us that immediately, the disciples leapt from their seats, ran to Jesus and embraced him because they are so excited to see their friend.
Wait just a minute—is that what it says? Let’s look again…
Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”
And in verse 37, the Bible says that the disciples were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
So, the disciples’ first reaction to seeing the risen Christ was fear, confusion, and disbelief.
But we have to wonder why?
The truth is, this situation had to be pretty distressing for them. As a matter of fact, the whole story is upsetting. They have all been through a terrible ordeal. Their friend was arrested. They ran away in fear. He was brutally tortured and executed. They went into hiding because they thought they, too, would be arrested and executed for hanging out with Jesus, and then all of a sudden, there he is, standing in front of them, saying "Peace be with you."
I think I’d be a little freaked out, too!
But here’s the good news. The Jesus we see in this story is a Jesus of sight, touch and sound, a Jesus of memories and relationships, a Jesus of love and tenderness.
Jesus could have said,” Come on guys…we talked about this already. I told you I would be arrested and killed, and then on the third day be raised again…weren’t you people listening??”
But instead, Jesus responds to their fear with these words.
“Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
Then Jesus did the most incredible thing…he reached out and showed his disciples his hands and his feet. He showed the disciples the visible and tangible proof of the pain he had endured three days before, he showed them his scars. Christ rose from the tomb with his wounds healed, though their scars remained. He knew it would be good for his disciples if he retained the scars, for those scars would heal the wound in their hearts. The wound of disbelief; for even when he appeared before their eyes and showed them his true body, they still thought he was a ghost.
But instead of chastising them for their unbelief, he showed himself to his disciples. Jesus didn’t want for them to be troubled or afraid, he wanted them to trust him and to feel his peace, and so he reached out with a concrete sign of his love and allowed them the opportunity to really “feel” his presence.
As the story continues, the disciples’ emotions begin to move from fear to joy. Once they realize that this truly is Jesus and that Jesus is inviting them to be at peace, they are filled with incredulous joy. Jesus is saying to them, “Hey, I’m alive…it’s me. Everything’s going to be ok. Let’s eat!”
The resurrection begins to lead them just as it leads us from fear to joy. It transforms our troubles and questions into an overwhelming sense of God’s presence and love. We can move from being upset to being at peace, from doubt to faith, and from despair to hope.
The resurrection of Jesus was a new beginning for the disciples, and for the world. Yet it was a new beginning that did not have such a glorious start.
The disciples' hopes for a different future that had been shaped by a specific understanding of God's work in the world had been shattered as they had all watched Jesus die.
They were filled with fear, uncertainty, confusion, and hopelessness. Their assumptions about Jesus and about God had fallen apart. They were so devastated by the events of the past week that they could not even believe the first reports that Jesus had been raised.
What do we do when all the things we have thought and said and believed about God are contradicted by the things we actually experience in life?
Could the disciples still be able to believe that Jesus was indeed the Messiah?
The only way that could happen would be through a new beginning.
It was in the midst of such uncertainty, questioning, and hopelessness that Jesus came to them, walked along with them, stood beside them, and opened up for them the possibility of renewal.
And so the story continues beyond even the resurrection in Luke 24.
The story doesn’t continue because the disciples found some kind of “inner strength”, or because they were “tough”. The story goes on because the resurrected Jesus came and sought his doubting, questioning, failing, and hopeless followers.
That’s where our hope lies in this story. God comes to us in Jesus in the most surprising ways and when we least expect it. This is the heart of the message of this text.
The Church is called to proclaim the good news of forgiveness and reconciliation, and the hope of forgiveness that is shown to us in the resurrection itself. It is a vision of being God’s people, of being God’s means of transformation to the world.
There is a clear realization from the very beginning of Luke’s Gospel that we simply cannot do what God has called us to do without God’s help.
That power which the disciples are to wait for is not something they can generate or make happen by their own efforts. It is a gift of God, in God’s own time and in God’s own way. It will be marvelous when it comes, and it will enable this group of disciples to storm the world with the message of the Gospel.
This is the significance of the resurrection that we celebrate at Easter!
When life has been shattered through tragedy and heartache, through sin and failure, the only hope for any future lies in what God alone can do and in our response.
The disciples could not even believe the good news brought by the women. Their hope for the future did not lie in their ability to muster up enough faith to believe the unbelievable. They were too discouraged and too afraid to have that much faith. Yet into the midst of their own fear and doubt, Jesus came to them as the resurrected Lord. He sat and ate with them, assuring them that the resurrection was a physical and present reality.
The turning point for the disciples came when they encountered the presence of the resurrected Lord. It was the resurrected Jesus who took the initiative to come to them to open their eyes to a new reality, to new possibilities because of that reality, and so brought them a hope that went beyond the “endings” of the past.
This calls us to that encounter with the presence of the risen Christ today. There are many ways that we could define how that encounter should or ought to occur. Perhaps how is not as important as proclaiming the possibility of the encounter that brings healing and wholeness, and hope.
To meet the risen Lord is as much a possibility now as it was for the disciples or for Paul. It is not something that people in despair and hopelessness can muster enough faith to do. But part of our task as modern disciples is to proclaim to hopeless people the reality that Jesus is already seeking that encounter, and therefore that hope is alive!
This story describes the very earliest Christians hearing and doing the very same things that we as 21st century Christians do: journeying, questioning, fearing, but also feeding and being fed, studying the words of God, and listening for and receiving God's call. The combination of seeing Jesus, of being with him, and the sharing of the Word together, opened their hearts and minds, Luke tells us.
Whenever we shine the light of the gospel on our lives, our hearts and minds are similarly opened.
Let us receive this call and go forth today, proclaiming the hope of a risen savior in our world; a savior that is already seeking an experience with his followers, and will continue to give us tangible signs of his presence in our lives through the work of God in the world.
Amen.
Andalusia, AL
April 26, 2009
Our text today comes from the gospel according to Luke, chapter 24, verses 36 through 49. .
36While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate in their presence. 44Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Have you ever had an experience that was so strange that you had to re-orient your entire thinking to explain the experience?
Experiences can overwhelm us, experiences can dazzle us. Sometimes experiences change us.
But there are those rare experiences that leave us completely flustered. We cannot give the experience a context. The experience does not change what we know or feel. It does not even change the way we live. The strange nature of the experience challenges us to seek a completely new understanding, a completely different context if you will.
One example of such an experience comes from an NPR article I read recently by Sara Miles, author of the book Take This Bread.
In the article, she says:
Until recently, I thought being a Christian was all about belief. I didn't know any Christians, but I considered them people who believed in the virgin birth, for example, the way I believed in photosynthesis or germs.
But then, in an experience I still can't logically explain, I walked into a church and a stranger handed me a chunk of bread. Suddenly, I knew that it was made out of real flour and water and yeast — yet I also knew that God, named Jesus, was alive and in my mouth.
That first communion knocked me upside-down. Faith turned out not to be abstract at all, but material and physical. I'd thought Christianity meant angels and trinities and being good. Instead, I discovered a religion rooted in the most ordinary yet subversive practice: a dinner table where everyone is welcome, where the despised and outcasts are honored.
I came to believe that God is revealed not only in bread and wine during church services, but whenever we share food with others — particularly strangers. I came to believe that the fruits of creation are for everyone, without exception — not something to be doled out to insiders or the "deserving."
Similar to Sara Miles’ story, the disciples in today’s text had to find a context to give their experience or their inner yearnings a true home.
Today is the second Sunday after Easter. Today, we continue to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ—and today, we hear the conclusion of the story according to Luke.
The first thing Luke tells us is that the risen Lord appears to the disciples and says to them, “Peace be with you.”
And the Bible tells us that immediately, the disciples leapt from their seats, ran to Jesus and embraced him because they are so excited to see their friend.
Wait just a minute—is that what it says? Let’s look again…
Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”
And in verse 37, the Bible says that the disciples were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
So, the disciples’ first reaction to seeing the risen Christ was fear, confusion, and disbelief.
But we have to wonder why?
The truth is, this situation had to be pretty distressing for them. As a matter of fact, the whole story is upsetting. They have all been through a terrible ordeal. Their friend was arrested. They ran away in fear. He was brutally tortured and executed. They went into hiding because they thought they, too, would be arrested and executed for hanging out with Jesus, and then all of a sudden, there he is, standing in front of them, saying "Peace be with you."
I think I’d be a little freaked out, too!
But here’s the good news. The Jesus we see in this story is a Jesus of sight, touch and sound, a Jesus of memories and relationships, a Jesus of love and tenderness.
Jesus could have said,” Come on guys…we talked about this already. I told you I would be arrested and killed, and then on the third day be raised again…weren’t you people listening??”
But instead, Jesus responds to their fear with these words.
“Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
Then Jesus did the most incredible thing…he reached out and showed his disciples his hands and his feet. He showed the disciples the visible and tangible proof of the pain he had endured three days before, he showed them his scars. Christ rose from the tomb with his wounds healed, though their scars remained. He knew it would be good for his disciples if he retained the scars, for those scars would heal the wound in their hearts. The wound of disbelief; for even when he appeared before their eyes and showed them his true body, they still thought he was a ghost.
But instead of chastising them for their unbelief, he showed himself to his disciples. Jesus didn’t want for them to be troubled or afraid, he wanted them to trust him and to feel his peace, and so he reached out with a concrete sign of his love and allowed them the opportunity to really “feel” his presence.
As the story continues, the disciples’ emotions begin to move from fear to joy. Once they realize that this truly is Jesus and that Jesus is inviting them to be at peace, they are filled with incredulous joy. Jesus is saying to them, “Hey, I’m alive…it’s me. Everything’s going to be ok. Let’s eat!”
The resurrection begins to lead them just as it leads us from fear to joy. It transforms our troubles and questions into an overwhelming sense of God’s presence and love. We can move from being upset to being at peace, from doubt to faith, and from despair to hope.
The resurrection of Jesus was a new beginning for the disciples, and for the world. Yet it was a new beginning that did not have such a glorious start.
The disciples' hopes for a different future that had been shaped by a specific understanding of God's work in the world had been shattered as they had all watched Jesus die.
They were filled with fear, uncertainty, confusion, and hopelessness. Their assumptions about Jesus and about God had fallen apart. They were so devastated by the events of the past week that they could not even believe the first reports that Jesus had been raised.
What do we do when all the things we have thought and said and believed about God are contradicted by the things we actually experience in life?
Could the disciples still be able to believe that Jesus was indeed the Messiah?
The only way that could happen would be through a new beginning.
It was in the midst of such uncertainty, questioning, and hopelessness that Jesus came to them, walked along with them, stood beside them, and opened up for them the possibility of renewal.
And so the story continues beyond even the resurrection in Luke 24.
The story doesn’t continue because the disciples found some kind of “inner strength”, or because they were “tough”. The story goes on because the resurrected Jesus came and sought his doubting, questioning, failing, and hopeless followers.
That’s where our hope lies in this story. God comes to us in Jesus in the most surprising ways and when we least expect it. This is the heart of the message of this text.
The Church is called to proclaim the good news of forgiveness and reconciliation, and the hope of forgiveness that is shown to us in the resurrection itself. It is a vision of being God’s people, of being God’s means of transformation to the world.
There is a clear realization from the very beginning of Luke’s Gospel that we simply cannot do what God has called us to do without God’s help.
That power which the disciples are to wait for is not something they can generate or make happen by their own efforts. It is a gift of God, in God’s own time and in God’s own way. It will be marvelous when it comes, and it will enable this group of disciples to storm the world with the message of the Gospel.
This is the significance of the resurrection that we celebrate at Easter!
When life has been shattered through tragedy and heartache, through sin and failure, the only hope for any future lies in what God alone can do and in our response.
The disciples could not even believe the good news brought by the women. Their hope for the future did not lie in their ability to muster up enough faith to believe the unbelievable. They were too discouraged and too afraid to have that much faith. Yet into the midst of their own fear and doubt, Jesus came to them as the resurrected Lord. He sat and ate with them, assuring them that the resurrection was a physical and present reality.
The turning point for the disciples came when they encountered the presence of the resurrected Lord. It was the resurrected Jesus who took the initiative to come to them to open their eyes to a new reality, to new possibilities because of that reality, and so brought them a hope that went beyond the “endings” of the past.
This calls us to that encounter with the presence of the risen Christ today. There are many ways that we could define how that encounter should or ought to occur. Perhaps how is not as important as proclaiming the possibility of the encounter that brings healing and wholeness, and hope.
To meet the risen Lord is as much a possibility now as it was for the disciples or for Paul. It is not something that people in despair and hopelessness can muster enough faith to do. But part of our task as modern disciples is to proclaim to hopeless people the reality that Jesus is already seeking that encounter, and therefore that hope is alive!
This story describes the very earliest Christians hearing and doing the very same things that we as 21st century Christians do: journeying, questioning, fearing, but also feeding and being fed, studying the words of God, and listening for and receiving God's call. The combination of seeing Jesus, of being with him, and the sharing of the Word together, opened their hearts and minds, Luke tells us.
Whenever we shine the light of the gospel on our lives, our hearts and minds are similarly opened.
Let us receive this call and go forth today, proclaiming the hope of a risen savior in our world; a savior that is already seeking an experience with his followers, and will continue to give us tangible signs of his presence in our lives through the work of God in the world.
Amen.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Silence and Sunsets
Opp Memorial United Methodist Church
February 8, 2009
“Silence and Sunsets”
Please join me in the opening prayer:
Everlasting God,
You give strength to the powerless
And power to the faint;
You raise up the sick
And cast out demons.
Make us agents of healing and wholeness,
That your good news may be known
To the ends of your creation. Amen.
Hymn UMH 57 O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing
The Apostle’s Creed:
Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; on the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Gloria Patri:
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be; world without end. Amen. Amen.
Pastoral prayer and Lord’s Prayer:
O gracious and almighty God of heaven and earth, we come before you today with expectant and open hearts. None of your promises have gone unfulfilled and no heart that has ever turned to you has been turned away.
How can we not love you and give thanks with all our hearts. We are most fully alive when your praise is in our hearts and on our tongues. We see ourselves most clearly in your presence. Our cups are never empty when we lift them up to you.
O God of all creation, we see your love and care in every cloud that passes by... in every child voice that laughs. Your power and glory are evident in every mountain top and ocean view. Your thoughts are ever toward us, and your love is ever round us.
Come now and fill your people with the joy of your presence and claim our lives for the glory of your kingdom.
Lord, teach us to pray as you taught your disciples, saying:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering and Prayer
The Doxology
Children’s Moment
Hymn UMH 375 There is a Balm in Gilead
Scripture Reading:
Our scripture lesson comes from the gospel according to Mark, chapter 1 verses 29-39. Please stand with me in honor of the reading of the gospel.
Mark 1:29-39
29As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
32That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” 39And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
This is the word of God, for the people of God.
Sermon:
Silence.
It’s a word that stirs up many different and conflicting emotions when a person considers its effect.
For a preschool teacher after a long day of teaching three and four year olds, silence might be significantly attractive.
For an elderly widow, silence can be a haunting reminder of the fact that she is alone.
For a child suffering from frequent abuse, silence can be a toxic ingredient of his or her innocent life.
At the Troy Wesley Foundation, which is my “church away from church”, we are studying Revelation on Wednesday nights at our weekly worship service.
This past week in our study, we read in chapter eight about heaven being silent for half an hour.
I had to really think about and soak in that concept for a while.
Silence in heaven. What did that really mean? Can we even imagine what that must be like?
I’m pretty sure there’s no way we can possibly grasp true silence like the silence John of Patmos talks about in Revelation.
At the end of our study, we received a challenge for the coming week. We were to find two twenty minute periods of time throughout the week to be silent. Several people asked questions like…”Does that mean no computer?” “Does that mean just being quiet, or does it mean not listening to music or anything??” “Can I do yoga during my silent time?”
But the point was to spend the time doing absolutely nothing, and get as close to the heavenly silence we read about in Revelation. I have to be honest, at first I kind of balked at the idea of finding 40 minutes in my own hectic schedule to simply “sit and do nothing…” It’s very much against my nature to not be doing something! As a matter of fact, I was a little bit afraid of what being silent could mean for me. I love noise, both literally and figuratively. By being alone and quiet, I am forced to deal with things in my mind that the busyness of my life helps me be distracted from for the most part! Things like the stress of schoolwork and its toll on my life, both spiritually and mentally. Or perhaps I might be forced to focus on the strained relationship that I have with my sister.
Those are definitely things I’d rather “ostrich”, or stick my head in the sand and pretend don’t exist!
So, needless to say, we received quite the challenge. Especially in this technological society that is chock full of I-pods, televisions, computers, and radios.
I’m here to tell you, there’s not a whole lot of opportunity to find a quiet space in a college atmosphere! A person would have to be extremely deliberate about finding a place to be in “silence” around Troy, Alabama.
As I began to prepare for this sermon, I read about a man who went into a “soundproof” music room at his university to experience silence.
He said that when he entered the room, there was no noise, but that the longer he was in the room, he began to hear a high pitched noise which he attributed to his breathing, and another thumping noise which he recognized as the sound of his own heart beating. This man had gone to a place where he expected total silence, and yet he still heard sound.
In 1952, this same man by the name of John Cage composed a three movement composition entitled 4 minutes and 33 seconds. It was composed for any instrument (or combination of instruments), and the score instructs the performer not to play the instrument during the entire duration of the piece. Although commonly perceived as "four minutes thirty-three seconds of silence", the piece actually consists of the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed.
I watched a video of a performance of this piece, and the orchestra sat there with their instruments in their laps, the conductor with his hands in the air, and the “music” that was heard was not actual notes being played by instruments, but instead the “music” was the occasional cough or sneeze in the audience, the flipping of the musicians pages, and the scraping of chairs along the floor as the musicians adjusted or fidgeted in their seats.
It was those sounds, unpredictable and unintentional, that were to be regarded as constituting the music in this piece.
From the text today, in verse 35, it says, “In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.”
My guess is that Jesus was seeking a little “silence”. Jesus knew the importance of finding a time that he could go and be alone in a deserted place where he could gather his thoughts and find a little time to just “chill” with his father, God.
As I drove home from Troy this weekend, I contemplated my task for the week to find silence and what it really means to find “silence” in this lifetime. I decided that this could be the perfect opportunity to be “silent” for me, because the closest I could come to silence while driving down the road was to turn off my radio and put my phone on vibrate. So I did just that. I felt kind of like a cheater, but I figured this was at least a baby step towards total silence. I have to be quite honest; it was one of the most awkward experiences of my life. I realized that I don’t even know how to turn my radio off completely, so I just turned the volume down enough that I couldn’t hear it.
As I drove, I caught myself constantly reaching for the volume knob on my radio and stopping myself midway when I remembered there was a reason I wasn’t hearing the music.
Slowly, on my trip home, something strange started to happen. The further I drove in “silence”, I, like John Cage, realized that the music was not the noise my radio perpetually emits, but that the music consists of the sounds of life that I rarely take the time to notice.
I began to hear every little noise my little Geo car made as it rattled and bumped along the road.
I began to look at houses and really notice them for the first time, after having driven by them hundreds and hundreds of times on my way to and from Troy.
I began to think about the people that live in those different houses and what they might be like.
I looked at the sunset that lay before me and embraced its beauty and grandeur.
I believe God made sunsets for everyone to enjoy, but I was particularly impressed with this one because of all the brilliant colors of pink it contained! Pink is my favorite color, and I was amazed at the vividness of the different shades of pink, orange, and purple this sunset had.
I knew at that moment that for me, silence was more than an absence of noise or talking, it was a state of being aware of the overwhelming presence of God.
As I gazed at the sunset and the trees that I passed and noticed the creatures along the side of the road I was sensitive to the incredible creativity of our Creator God.
As I continued to drive, I found myself feeling lost in the sense of community I was experiencing with nature and with God.
I imagine that feeling of intimacy with God was similar to what Jesus was seeking as he went out in the early morning hours to spend some time in prayer; I believe he was seeking an intentional state of being aware of God’s presence.
My question for us today is how often do we deliberately seek the opportunity in our busy lives to find a quiet moment to spend alone with God?
We have lots of “noise” in our lives with our families, our jobs, our friendships, and even our work with the church.
But I believe, by evidence of Jesus’ example to us in this text, that we are called to seek a little “silence” every once in a while to just “be”… in the presence of God.
What does it mean for us to simply be?
It means coming…baggage and all…straight to the presence of God and allowing God to envelop us in God’s presence to let us have an opportunity to “recharge” after a metaphorical “long day”.
I encourage you over the course of the next week or so to find some time to do that.
I challenge you to spend time enjoying and basking in the presence of the God that created you and me.
Whether that means turning your radio off, or turning the news off during your morning cup of coffee, or taking a long walk without your I-pod, I urge you to find some way to find God in your everyday, mundane “drive home”.
In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hymn UMH 130 God Will Take Care of You
Dismissal With Blessing:
Hear now this benediction:
We go from this place of worship back to our work in the world,
we go as bearers of light and hope to a world that knows too much darkness and despair.
As you go out into the world remember that no matter how chaotic things may seem God is still our Rock and our Fortress.
In the shadow of the Rock we will never be left without hope.
Walk in the world in the sure knowledge that the Triune God: Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer is with you always.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
February 8, 2009
“Silence and Sunsets”
Please join me in the opening prayer:
Everlasting God,
You give strength to the powerless
And power to the faint;
You raise up the sick
And cast out demons.
Make us agents of healing and wholeness,
That your good news may be known
To the ends of your creation. Amen.
Hymn UMH 57 O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing
The Apostle’s Creed:
Let us unite in this historic confession of the Christian faith:
I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; on the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Gloria Patri:
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be; world without end. Amen. Amen.
Pastoral prayer and Lord’s Prayer:
O gracious and almighty God of heaven and earth, we come before you today with expectant and open hearts. None of your promises have gone unfulfilled and no heart that has ever turned to you has been turned away.
How can we not love you and give thanks with all our hearts. We are most fully alive when your praise is in our hearts and on our tongues. We see ourselves most clearly in your presence. Our cups are never empty when we lift them up to you.
O God of all creation, we see your love and care in every cloud that passes by... in every child voice that laughs. Your power and glory are evident in every mountain top and ocean view. Your thoughts are ever toward us, and your love is ever round us.
Come now and fill your people with the joy of your presence and claim our lives for the glory of your kingdom.
Lord, teach us to pray as you taught your disciples, saying:
Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering and Prayer
The Doxology
Children’s Moment
Hymn UMH 375 There is a Balm in Gilead
Scripture Reading:
Our scripture lesson comes from the gospel according to Mark, chapter 1 verses 29-39. Please stand with me in honor of the reading of the gospel.
Mark 1:29-39
29As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. 31He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
32That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. 33And the whole city was gathered around the door. 34And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. 35In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. 36And Simon and his companions hunted for him. 37When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” 38He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” 39And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
This is the word of God, for the people of God.
Sermon:
Silence.
It’s a word that stirs up many different and conflicting emotions when a person considers its effect.
For a preschool teacher after a long day of teaching three and four year olds, silence might be significantly attractive.
For an elderly widow, silence can be a haunting reminder of the fact that she is alone.
For a child suffering from frequent abuse, silence can be a toxic ingredient of his or her innocent life.
At the Troy Wesley Foundation, which is my “church away from church”, we are studying Revelation on Wednesday nights at our weekly worship service.
This past week in our study, we read in chapter eight about heaven being silent for half an hour.
I had to really think about and soak in that concept for a while.
Silence in heaven. What did that really mean? Can we even imagine what that must be like?
I’m pretty sure there’s no way we can possibly grasp true silence like the silence John of Patmos talks about in Revelation.
At the end of our study, we received a challenge for the coming week. We were to find two twenty minute periods of time throughout the week to be silent. Several people asked questions like…”Does that mean no computer?” “Does that mean just being quiet, or does it mean not listening to music or anything??” “Can I do yoga during my silent time?”
But the point was to spend the time doing absolutely nothing, and get as close to the heavenly silence we read about in Revelation. I have to be honest, at first I kind of balked at the idea of finding 40 minutes in my own hectic schedule to simply “sit and do nothing…” It’s very much against my nature to not be doing something! As a matter of fact, I was a little bit afraid of what being silent could mean for me. I love noise, both literally and figuratively. By being alone and quiet, I am forced to deal with things in my mind that the busyness of my life helps me be distracted from for the most part! Things like the stress of schoolwork and its toll on my life, both spiritually and mentally. Or perhaps I might be forced to focus on the strained relationship that I have with my sister.
Those are definitely things I’d rather “ostrich”, or stick my head in the sand and pretend don’t exist!
So, needless to say, we received quite the challenge. Especially in this technological society that is chock full of I-pods, televisions, computers, and radios.
I’m here to tell you, there’s not a whole lot of opportunity to find a quiet space in a college atmosphere! A person would have to be extremely deliberate about finding a place to be in “silence” around Troy, Alabama.
As I began to prepare for this sermon, I read about a man who went into a “soundproof” music room at his university to experience silence.
He said that when he entered the room, there was no noise, but that the longer he was in the room, he began to hear a high pitched noise which he attributed to his breathing, and another thumping noise which he recognized as the sound of his own heart beating. This man had gone to a place where he expected total silence, and yet he still heard sound.
In 1952, this same man by the name of John Cage composed a three movement composition entitled 4 minutes and 33 seconds. It was composed for any instrument (or combination of instruments), and the score instructs the performer not to play the instrument during the entire duration of the piece. Although commonly perceived as "four minutes thirty-three seconds of silence", the piece actually consists of the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed.
I watched a video of a performance of this piece, and the orchestra sat there with their instruments in their laps, the conductor with his hands in the air, and the “music” that was heard was not actual notes being played by instruments, but instead the “music” was the occasional cough or sneeze in the audience, the flipping of the musicians pages, and the scraping of chairs along the floor as the musicians adjusted or fidgeted in their seats.
It was those sounds, unpredictable and unintentional, that were to be regarded as constituting the music in this piece.
From the text today, in verse 35, it says, “In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.”
My guess is that Jesus was seeking a little “silence”. Jesus knew the importance of finding a time that he could go and be alone in a deserted place where he could gather his thoughts and find a little time to just “chill” with his father, God.
As I drove home from Troy this weekend, I contemplated my task for the week to find silence and what it really means to find “silence” in this lifetime. I decided that this could be the perfect opportunity to be “silent” for me, because the closest I could come to silence while driving down the road was to turn off my radio and put my phone on vibrate. So I did just that. I felt kind of like a cheater, but I figured this was at least a baby step towards total silence. I have to be quite honest; it was one of the most awkward experiences of my life. I realized that I don’t even know how to turn my radio off completely, so I just turned the volume down enough that I couldn’t hear it.
As I drove, I caught myself constantly reaching for the volume knob on my radio and stopping myself midway when I remembered there was a reason I wasn’t hearing the music.
Slowly, on my trip home, something strange started to happen. The further I drove in “silence”, I, like John Cage, realized that the music was not the noise my radio perpetually emits, but that the music consists of the sounds of life that I rarely take the time to notice.
I began to hear every little noise my little Geo car made as it rattled and bumped along the road.
I began to look at houses and really notice them for the first time, after having driven by them hundreds and hundreds of times on my way to and from Troy.
I began to think about the people that live in those different houses and what they might be like.
I looked at the sunset that lay before me and embraced its beauty and grandeur.
I believe God made sunsets for everyone to enjoy, but I was particularly impressed with this one because of all the brilliant colors of pink it contained! Pink is my favorite color, and I was amazed at the vividness of the different shades of pink, orange, and purple this sunset had.
I knew at that moment that for me, silence was more than an absence of noise or talking, it was a state of being aware of the overwhelming presence of God.
As I gazed at the sunset and the trees that I passed and noticed the creatures along the side of the road I was sensitive to the incredible creativity of our Creator God.
As I continued to drive, I found myself feeling lost in the sense of community I was experiencing with nature and with God.
I imagine that feeling of intimacy with God was similar to what Jesus was seeking as he went out in the early morning hours to spend some time in prayer; I believe he was seeking an intentional state of being aware of God’s presence.
My question for us today is how often do we deliberately seek the opportunity in our busy lives to find a quiet moment to spend alone with God?
We have lots of “noise” in our lives with our families, our jobs, our friendships, and even our work with the church.
But I believe, by evidence of Jesus’ example to us in this text, that we are called to seek a little “silence” every once in a while to just “be”… in the presence of God.
What does it mean for us to simply be?
It means coming…baggage and all…straight to the presence of God and allowing God to envelop us in God’s presence to let us have an opportunity to “recharge” after a metaphorical “long day”.
I encourage you over the course of the next week or so to find some time to do that.
I challenge you to spend time enjoying and basking in the presence of the God that created you and me.
Whether that means turning your radio off, or turning the news off during your morning cup of coffee, or taking a long walk without your I-pod, I urge you to find some way to find God in your everyday, mundane “drive home”.
In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Hymn UMH 130 God Will Take Care of You
Dismissal With Blessing:
Hear now this benediction:
We go from this place of worship back to our work in the world,
we go as bearers of light and hope to a world that knows too much darkness and despair.
As you go out into the world remember that no matter how chaotic things may seem God is still our Rock and our Fortress.
In the shadow of the Rock we will never be left without hope.
Walk in the world in the sure knowledge that the Triune God: Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer is with you always.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
the Gospel of the second chance, the third chance...the hundredth chance
In Chapter one of Jonah, Jonah is instructed by God to go to Nineveh and tell them that God is displeased with their wickedness.
As most of us know, Jonah decides to do exactly the opposite of that, and instead buys a ticket on the first boat out of Joppa to get as far away from God’s directions as he can.
Why did he do that? Maybe he was afraid? Or it may have been for some more nationalistic reason. Nineveh was an important city in the Assyrian Empire, possibly its capital, and at the time of Jeroboam the second Israel was prospering and the only real threat was the Assyrian Empire.
Jonah may have thought that by not preaching to Nineveh, God would be forced to seek justice for Israel and destroy the city, thus lessening the Assyrian threat to his people.
Whatever Jonah’s reason was, he ran. But when a prophetic call comes to a person, it involves a commission which cannot be avoided.
As most of us know, Jonah was on a boat, which was caught in a very bad storm, and his shipmates threw him into the sea to calm the storm. Once Jonah was thrown overboard, he is swallowed up by a big fish. After spending several days in the belly of the fish, stubborn ole Jonah decides it might be a good time to seek God. Jonah prays to God and promises that if God will deliver him from the belly of the fish, Jonah in turn will do what God has asked him to do.
God responded to Jonah's prayer of repentance, and the Bible tells us that he was vomited up onto dry land. Jonah was delivered from the mouth of the fish, brought up out of the water in an almost baptismal-like experience. We aren't told exactly where Jonah was vomited up, but what we do know is that he started off in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is about 500 miles from Nineveh. That would be a substantial journey today, but when he would have been traveling on foot or on an animal it would have taken a very long time. Certainly weeks.
So, God tries again with Jonah. What a word of grace and challenge all rolled into one! "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, 'Arise, go to Nineveh . . .'"
Were there ever any kinder words written anywhere? "And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time."
Notice that God never lets up and never gives up on Jonah. Grace and challenge, forgiveness and responsibility are intertwined.
Jonah gets the message, and he does as he is told this time. He sets out on the three day journey to Nineveh.
Wait a minute, three day journey? It's a bit closer than 500 miles away isn't it?
So even though he was trying to run from Nineveh, Jonah ended up closer to Nineveh than he had been when he started. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh, and when he resisted he ended up closer than when he started. God worked with the disobedient Jonah, and Jonah's call to preach in Nineveh was as much for Jonah's sake as for the people of Nineveh.
For the first time on his journey, Jonah is willingly on his way to Nineveh.
Jonah walked into the city as far as he could go in one day. Then he preached a five word sermon. Forty--days--more--Nineveh--destroyed.
Now, let’s take a look back at chapter one of Jonah and read again the message that God gave to Jonah to deliver to Nineveh. Chapter one, verse 2 says “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.”
I don’t read anything there about God destroying Nineveh in forty days if they didn’t repent from their wickedness…It sounds to me like Jonah took God’s words and twisted them around a little bit in his own wishful thinking.
Jonah had an incredible response to his preaching. The entire city repented. Everyone, including the King of Nineveh responded and a fast was declared. The king declared a fast across the land, which included every person and animal. No one could eat or drink, but they were to be covered in sackcloth and ordered to cry mightily unto God, and “…who knows? God may decide to spare them and let them not perish…”
But I'll tell you who knew...Jonah knew. Jonah knew that if God was merciful enough to give him, a sinner, a second chance, that God would indeed spare this sinful nation. Jonah knew that the God of his people, the God that had spared Israel on multiple occasions, was big enough, and gracious enough to spare even the city of his enemies…Nineveh.
On New Year's Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played the University of California in the Rose Bowl. During the first half of the game a player by the name of Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for California on his own thirty-five yard line. In evading some of the Georgia Tech tacklers, Riegels became confused. He started running sixty-five yards in the wrong direction. One of his teammates, Benny Lom, outran him and tackled him on the one yard line just before Riegels was about to score for Georgia Tech. Then, on the next play, when California attempted to punt out of its end zone, Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety, which was the ultimate margin of victory.
That strange play came near the end of the first half. Everyone watching the game was asking the same question: "What will coach Nibbs Price do with Roy Riegels in the second half?" The players filed off the field and trudged into the dressing room. They sat down on the benches and on the floor. All but Riegels. He pulled his blanket around his shoulders, and sat down in a corner, put his face in his hands, and wept like a baby.
A coach usually has a great deal to say to his team during half-time. That afternoon coach Price was quiet. No doubt he was trying to decide what to do with Riegels. Then the timekeeper came in and announced that there were three minutes before playing time. Coach Price looked at the team and said simply, "Men, the same team that started the first half will start the second."
The players got up and started out. All but Roy Riegels. He didn't budge. The coach looked back and called to him again. Still Riegels didn't move. Coach Price walked over to Riegels and said, "Roy, didn't you hear me? The same team that started the first half will start the second." Roy Riegels looked up and his cheeks were wet with tears.
"Coach," he said, "I can't do it. I've disgraced you. I've disgraced the University of California. I've disgraced myself. I couldn't face that crowd to save my life."
Then Coach Nibbs Price put his hand on Riegels shoulder and said, "Roy, get up and go on back. The game is only half over."
Roy Riegels did go back, and those Tech players testified that they had seldom seen a man play as Roy Riegels did in that second half.
When I read that story, deep inside I said, "What a coach!" When I read the stories of Peter and Jonah and the stories of a thousand men and women like them, I say, "What a God!"
We take the ball and we run in the wrong direction. We stumble and fall. We're so ashamed of ourselves that we never want to try again. And God comes and in the person of Jesus Christ puts a nail-printed hand on our shoulder and says, "Get up; go on back. The game is only half over."
That's the good news of the grace of God. That's the good news of the forgiveness of sins. That's the Gospel of the second chance, of a third chance, of the hundredth chance.
I’d like to challenge you with a quote from Rabbi David Saperstein:
“If God does not love everybody, then there can be no love for anybody. If God is not gracious toward all, there can be grace for none.”
Amen.
Hear this benediction:
Go, secure in the steadfast love of God
rejoicing in the call of Jesus Christ
strong in the power of the Holy Spirit.
As most of us know, Jonah decides to do exactly the opposite of that, and instead buys a ticket on the first boat out of Joppa to get as far away from God’s directions as he can.
Why did he do that? Maybe he was afraid? Or it may have been for some more nationalistic reason. Nineveh was an important city in the Assyrian Empire, possibly its capital, and at the time of Jeroboam the second Israel was prospering and the only real threat was the Assyrian Empire.
Jonah may have thought that by not preaching to Nineveh, God would be forced to seek justice for Israel and destroy the city, thus lessening the Assyrian threat to his people.
Whatever Jonah’s reason was, he ran. But when a prophetic call comes to a person, it involves a commission which cannot be avoided.
As most of us know, Jonah was on a boat, which was caught in a very bad storm, and his shipmates threw him into the sea to calm the storm. Once Jonah was thrown overboard, he is swallowed up by a big fish. After spending several days in the belly of the fish, stubborn ole Jonah decides it might be a good time to seek God. Jonah prays to God and promises that if God will deliver him from the belly of the fish, Jonah in turn will do what God has asked him to do.
God responded to Jonah's prayer of repentance, and the Bible tells us that he was vomited up onto dry land. Jonah was delivered from the mouth of the fish, brought up out of the water in an almost baptismal-like experience. We aren't told exactly where Jonah was vomited up, but what we do know is that he started off in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is about 500 miles from Nineveh. That would be a substantial journey today, but when he would have been traveling on foot or on an animal it would have taken a very long time. Certainly weeks.
So, God tries again with Jonah. What a word of grace and challenge all rolled into one! "Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, 'Arise, go to Nineveh . . .'"
Were there ever any kinder words written anywhere? "And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time."
Notice that God never lets up and never gives up on Jonah. Grace and challenge, forgiveness and responsibility are intertwined.
Jonah gets the message, and he does as he is told this time. He sets out on the three day journey to Nineveh.
Wait a minute, three day journey? It's a bit closer than 500 miles away isn't it?
So even though he was trying to run from Nineveh, Jonah ended up closer to Nineveh than he had been when he started. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh, and when he resisted he ended up closer than when he started. God worked with the disobedient Jonah, and Jonah's call to preach in Nineveh was as much for Jonah's sake as for the people of Nineveh.
For the first time on his journey, Jonah is willingly on his way to Nineveh.
Jonah walked into the city as far as he could go in one day. Then he preached a five word sermon. Forty--days--more--Nineveh--destroyed.
Now, let’s take a look back at chapter one of Jonah and read again the message that God gave to Jonah to deliver to Nineveh. Chapter one, verse 2 says “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.”
I don’t read anything there about God destroying Nineveh in forty days if they didn’t repent from their wickedness…It sounds to me like Jonah took God’s words and twisted them around a little bit in his own wishful thinking.
Jonah had an incredible response to his preaching. The entire city repented. Everyone, including the King of Nineveh responded and a fast was declared. The king declared a fast across the land, which included every person and animal. No one could eat or drink, but they were to be covered in sackcloth and ordered to cry mightily unto God, and “…who knows? God may decide to spare them and let them not perish…”
But I'll tell you who knew...Jonah knew. Jonah knew that if God was merciful enough to give him, a sinner, a second chance, that God would indeed spare this sinful nation. Jonah knew that the God of his people, the God that had spared Israel on multiple occasions, was big enough, and gracious enough to spare even the city of his enemies…Nineveh.
On New Year's Day, 1929, Georgia Tech played the University of California in the Rose Bowl. During the first half of the game a player by the name of Roy Riegels recovered a fumble for California on his own thirty-five yard line. In evading some of the Georgia Tech tacklers, Riegels became confused. He started running sixty-five yards in the wrong direction. One of his teammates, Benny Lom, outran him and tackled him on the one yard line just before Riegels was about to score for Georgia Tech. Then, on the next play, when California attempted to punt out of its end zone, Tech blocked the kick and scored a safety, which was the ultimate margin of victory.
That strange play came near the end of the first half. Everyone watching the game was asking the same question: "What will coach Nibbs Price do with Roy Riegels in the second half?" The players filed off the field and trudged into the dressing room. They sat down on the benches and on the floor. All but Riegels. He pulled his blanket around his shoulders, and sat down in a corner, put his face in his hands, and wept like a baby.
A coach usually has a great deal to say to his team during half-time. That afternoon coach Price was quiet. No doubt he was trying to decide what to do with Riegels. Then the timekeeper came in and announced that there were three minutes before playing time. Coach Price looked at the team and said simply, "Men, the same team that started the first half will start the second."
The players got up and started out. All but Roy Riegels. He didn't budge. The coach looked back and called to him again. Still Riegels didn't move. Coach Price walked over to Riegels and said, "Roy, didn't you hear me? The same team that started the first half will start the second." Roy Riegels looked up and his cheeks were wet with tears.
"Coach," he said, "I can't do it. I've disgraced you. I've disgraced the University of California. I've disgraced myself. I couldn't face that crowd to save my life."
Then Coach Nibbs Price put his hand on Riegels shoulder and said, "Roy, get up and go on back. The game is only half over."
Roy Riegels did go back, and those Tech players testified that they had seldom seen a man play as Roy Riegels did in that second half.
When I read that story, deep inside I said, "What a coach!" When I read the stories of Peter and Jonah and the stories of a thousand men and women like them, I say, "What a God!"
We take the ball and we run in the wrong direction. We stumble and fall. We're so ashamed of ourselves that we never want to try again. And God comes and in the person of Jesus Christ puts a nail-printed hand on our shoulder and says, "Get up; go on back. The game is only half over."
That's the good news of the grace of God. That's the good news of the forgiveness of sins. That's the Gospel of the second chance, of a third chance, of the hundredth chance.
I’d like to challenge you with a quote from Rabbi David Saperstein:
“If God does not love everybody, then there can be no love for anybody. If God is not gracious toward all, there can be grace for none.”
Amen.
Hear this benediction:
Go, secure in the steadfast love of God
rejoicing in the call of Jesus Christ
strong in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
In the beginning, God created....Group Therapy?
My story comes right out of the book of Genesis...
Which is good, because I just started at the beginning.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, it was just God. God created the world. Animals, trees, rivers, streams, and oceans. Then God created man--in God's own image. God just wanted somebody to chill with...to talk to. That didn't go well, so God made women.
(Lighten up guys...just a little joke)
So--God made man and woman--and that's when it hit me...those were the first kids! The original children...the first kids that belonged to God.
An interesting thing- in the last verse of the second chapter, it describes the original feeling of the original feeling child. It says they were both naked. I couldn't wait to call my mom and tell her! They were naked, naked, naked, naked! And the Bible says...they felt...no shame.
They felt no shame.
The story continues..God told Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree--of knowledge.
Now that hit me right between the eyes. In other words, God told Adam, "Don't eat that fruit. There's just some things you don't need to know. There's some things, I hate to tell you, you'll never know."
What I think God was saying is, "I'm God. You're not."
And we can cry, and plead, and ask why all day long--but once in a while, in the tenderness of God's nature, God says, "would you just leave that to me? If I began to explain it to you...you couldn't grasp it. So I am asking you to trust me. There is so much evil--you don't even want to know what it looks like--just don't eat the fruit."
Now--I will say this one little sad note-God told that to Adam--he never told that to Eve. Just one small detail you'll never hear at Promise Keepers!
Eve went out and picked the fruit. The Bible says she did eat the fruit and Adam was with her.
Don't you think that at any moment, Adam could have said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa...wait a minute! You might want to think about that!"
And so they ate. Then the Bible says God came looking for them.
I love that part.
I think it was a rhetorical question when God said, "Where are you?"
I can't imagine that God...the creator of the Universe lost the first two children at Wal-Mart.
No...I think God was headed for group. God was asking them to "check-in."
"Where are you? I mean, what's really going on in your life? Let's not skirt over this issue again--let's really get to the bottom of it. I know you're lonely. Let's be honest...where is that coming from? I know you're frustrated with your family-they aren't meeting your every need. There's something missing in your life--but they are only human--they can't fill that. I wanted to do that. So where are you? What's really going on in your life? Just check in."
And then God asked the most psychologically sound question that many doctors have couched in different words...God said to Adam and Eve, " Who told you that you were naked? Who hurt you in such a way that you lost that sweet innocence that I created you to have? Who told you that you would never amount to anything...or that the things that went wrong in your childhood were your fault? Who told you that you were damaged goods? That you were unlovable? Who brought that shame to you?
I created you to feel...no shame.
It was obvious they were trying to cover up their shame. There were leaves plastered everywhere. Looked like Easter Sunday...trying to dress it up. Fix it up, so that it looks like we're ok.
Then the word says that God loved them so much that he sat down behind the Singer sewing machine and took the skins of animals--it was the first death of something God created, sacrificed so that God could make for them garments. God gave them some tools.
God said, "I hate you found out what evil looks like. It's going to get cold outside the garden...so put your coat on. It's not going to be as easy...you're going to have to work the ground for your food now...but I couldn't just leave you without."
Can you imaging going to group with Eve? Can you imagine that it took every ounce of courage she had to say, "Hi. I'm Eve. I destroyed the world. But I put this garment on. My kids are killing each other. I just wanted to be real with somebody." And in her desperate moment of just needing someone to hear her out--someone leans over and says, "Well, where in the world is your faith? Take that garment off! We're going to pray this through one more time. Sing another chorus--then you head out of here and you hold your head up high!"
We do that to each other. Each and every day.
But it was the God of the universe that gave her the tools.
You see- what Adam and eve realized is that the minute you step away from the presence of God--the moment that gap widens, the world becomes a dark and lonely place.
But the minute you turn, and in your honesty say..."Here I am Lord. I'm feeling a little shameful today." And the moment they enter the presence of God--everything changes.
Which is good, because I just started at the beginning.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, it was just God. God created the world. Animals, trees, rivers, streams, and oceans. Then God created man--in God's own image. God just wanted somebody to chill with...to talk to. That didn't go well, so God made women.
(Lighten up guys...just a little joke)
So--God made man and woman--and that's when it hit me...those were the first kids! The original children...the first kids that belonged to God.
An interesting thing- in the last verse of the second chapter, it describes the original feeling of the original feeling child. It says they were both naked. I couldn't wait to call my mom and tell her! They were naked, naked, naked, naked! And the Bible says...they felt...no shame.
They felt no shame.
The story continues..God told Adam not to eat the fruit of the tree--of knowledge.
Now that hit me right between the eyes. In other words, God told Adam, "Don't eat that fruit. There's just some things you don't need to know. There's some things, I hate to tell you, you'll never know."
What I think God was saying is, "I'm God. You're not."
And we can cry, and plead, and ask why all day long--but once in a while, in the tenderness of God's nature, God says, "would you just leave that to me? If I began to explain it to you...you couldn't grasp it. So I am asking you to trust me. There is so much evil--you don't even want to know what it looks like--just don't eat the fruit."
Now--I will say this one little sad note-God told that to Adam--he never told that to Eve. Just one small detail you'll never hear at Promise Keepers!
Eve went out and picked the fruit. The Bible says she did eat the fruit and Adam was with her.
Don't you think that at any moment, Adam could have said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa...wait a minute! You might want to think about that!"
And so they ate. Then the Bible says God came looking for them.
I love that part.
I think it was a rhetorical question when God said, "Where are you?"
I can't imagine that God...the creator of the Universe lost the first two children at Wal-Mart.
No...I think God was headed for group. God was asking them to "check-in."
"Where are you? I mean, what's really going on in your life? Let's not skirt over this issue again--let's really get to the bottom of it. I know you're lonely. Let's be honest...where is that coming from? I know you're frustrated with your family-they aren't meeting your every need. There's something missing in your life--but they are only human--they can't fill that. I wanted to do that. So where are you? What's really going on in your life? Just check in."
And then God asked the most psychologically sound question that many doctors have couched in different words...God said to Adam and Eve, " Who told you that you were naked? Who hurt you in such a way that you lost that sweet innocence that I created you to have? Who told you that you would never amount to anything...or that the things that went wrong in your childhood were your fault? Who told you that you were damaged goods? That you were unlovable? Who brought that shame to you?
I created you to feel...no shame.
It was obvious they were trying to cover up their shame. There were leaves plastered everywhere. Looked like Easter Sunday...trying to dress it up. Fix it up, so that it looks like we're ok.
Then the word says that God loved them so much that he sat down behind the Singer sewing machine and took the skins of animals--it was the first death of something God created, sacrificed so that God could make for them garments. God gave them some tools.
God said, "I hate you found out what evil looks like. It's going to get cold outside the garden...so put your coat on. It's not going to be as easy...you're going to have to work the ground for your food now...but I couldn't just leave you without."
Can you imaging going to group with Eve? Can you imagine that it took every ounce of courage she had to say, "Hi. I'm Eve. I destroyed the world. But I put this garment on. My kids are killing each other. I just wanted to be real with somebody." And in her desperate moment of just needing someone to hear her out--someone leans over and says, "Well, where in the world is your faith? Take that garment off! We're going to pray this through one more time. Sing another chorus--then you head out of here and you hold your head up high!"
We do that to each other. Each and every day.
But it was the God of the universe that gave her the tools.
You see- what Adam and eve realized is that the minute you step away from the presence of God--the moment that gap widens, the world becomes a dark and lonely place.
But the minute you turn, and in your honesty say..."Here I am Lord. I'm feeling a little shameful today." And the moment they enter the presence of God--everything changes.
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