Sermons and other ramblings

Prayer, Between Heaven and Earth

2012-01-22T09:07:00.002-05:00

Text: Romans 8:26-27 etal

Focus: Prayer

Function: To help people comprehend the differencebetween pagan and Christian prayer.

Form:

Intro:

Adapted from N.T. Wright, Simply Christian, pages161-172

Christian prayer is simple, in the sense that asmall child can pray the prayer Jesus taught. But it's hard in the demands itmakes as we go on with it.

For example, in Psalm 22, King David is pouringout His heart to God and cries: “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?”

The prayer is so intense, and so real that Jesusshouts it from the cross: (SHOUT)“Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani!”

Prayer bridges Heaven and Earth.

King David was not exempt. Jesus was not exempt.And maybe some of us here are not exempt. Prayer is an honest, heartfelt cry toGod.

David's prayer was real for him at the time, andalso a prophecy about Jesus.

We too are called to live at the overlap both ofheaven and earth—the earth that is yet to be fully redeemed as one day it willbe—and of God's future in this world's present.

We are caught on a small island near the pointwhere those tectonic plates—heaven and earth, teacher and president—arescrunching themselves together. Be ready for earthquakes!

When Paul writes his greatest chapter about lifein the spirit in the coming renewal of the whole cosmos, he points out theheart of all that, but we don't know how to pray as we ought, the Spirit—God'sown Spirit.--intercedes for us according to God's will. It's a small passage(Romans 8:26-27), but it's extremely important because of what it says andwhere it says it.

Here's the context: God creation is groaning inlabor pains, says Paul, and it is waiting for the new world to be born from itswomb. The church, God's people in the Messiah, find themselves caught up inthis, as we, also groan in longing for redemption.

Because the Holy Spirit dwells in us, our natureis changed. God's Spirit and His nature have taken up residence in us. We arebeing transformed. We want justice to be done. It was the Church that madeslavery illegal across the world. And we hate conflict. We even love ourenemies. We groan inside for the times when the world is made right, when theLion and the Lamb lay down together. When the entire creation is born again andmen beat their swords into plowshares.

Christian prayer is at its most characteristicwhen we find ourselves caught in the overlap of the agents, part of thecreation that aches for the new birth.

Christian prayer is different than pagan prayer.

And to understand this, let me paint a shallow butnecessary picture of different and competing views of God.

Officially, the Christian Faith is a belief inTheism. Theists believe that God is alive and active in the realm of humanityand that He does indeed know what is going on and He cares for us.

We will contrast it with two other views aboutGod. Pantheism and Deism.

Pantheists believe that God is in everything andthat reaching God is a form of somehow becoming one with all that exists.

Deism, is the belief that yes, there is a God andGod created everything, but then God left it go to see how it plays out. It iscalled the watchmaker theory, God made a watch, wound it up and is now watchingit unwind.

N.T. Wright says it this way: “For the Pantheist,God and the world are basically the same thing: the world is, if you like,God's self—expression. For the Deist, the world may indeed have been made byGod (or the gods), but there is now no contact between divine and human.

In the strange new promise, the point at whichChristian prayer is marked out over Pantheism in Deism is that, by the Spirit,God himself is groaning from within the heart of the world, because Godhimself, by the spirit, dwells in our hearts as we resonate with the pain ofthe world.

The Pantheist gets in-touch-with-the-heart-of-things.The Christian gets-in-touch-with-the-living-God, who is doing a new thing, whohas come to the heart of the world in Jesus Christ because all is not well (apoint that the pantheist would deny), and it needs to be put right. God, whonow comes by his Spirit to the place where the world is in pain (a point wherethe Deist can never contemplate) in order that, in and through us—those whopray in Christ and by the spirit—the groaning of all creation may comebefore the Father himself, the hard searcher (8:27), the one who works allthings together for good for those who love Him (8:28).

Let me make that simple. The Pantheist would denythat they world is broken, the Deist would deny that God cares. Christianprayer addresses the God whose heart is also broken about the Creation and isgroaning about the state of the world.

It is good to groan in prayer. It is good to longfor things to be made right. Jesus himself said it, blessed are those whohunger and thirst for justice. (Matthew 5:6,NLT)

This is what it means to be “conformed to theimage of his Son” (8:29). This is what it means, within the present age, toshare his glory (8:18, 30).

This explains why specifically Christian prayermakes the sense that it does within the world where heaven and earth belongtogether. It is worth developing the picture to show how prayer within theChristian world-view was significantly different from prayer as seen with fromwithin the two other my options.

For the Pantheists, prayer is simply getting intune with the deepest realities of the world and of oneself. Divinity iseverywhere, including within me. Prayer is therefore not so much addressingsomeone else, who lives somewhere else, but rather discovering and getting intune with an inner truth and life that are to be found deep within my own heartand within the silent rhythms of the world around.

That is Pantheistic prayer. It is (in myjudgment) a lot healthier than pagan prayer, or human beings trying to invoke,placate, control, or bribe the sea-god, the war-god, the river-god, or themarriage-God to get special favors or avoid particular dangers. Compared withthat, Pantheistic prayer has a certain stately nobility about. But it isn'tChristian prayer.

For the Deist, prayer is calling across the voidto a distant deity. This lofty figure may or may not be listening. He, or it,may or may not be inclined, or even able, to do very much about us and ourworld, even if he (or it) wanted to.

So, at the extreme, all you can do is send out amessage, like a marooned sailor scribbling a note and putting it in a bottle,on the off-chance that someone out there might pick it up. That kind of prayertakes a good deal of faith and hope. But it isn't Christian prayer.

Sometimes, of course, prayer within the Jewishand Christian tradition feels exactly like the prayer of the Deist, as thePsalms themselves bear witness. But, for the Psalmist, the sense of a void, andemptiness where there ought to be a Presence, isn't something to accept calmlyas the way things simply are.

Those times when you feel like the heavens arebrass and God isn't listening are times to jump up and down and shout: “Wakeup, Yahweh!” We get that idea many times in the book of Psalms, It is likesomeone standing at the foot of the bed, hands on hips, looking crossly in thesleeping form. (That is of course how the disciples address Jesus, asleep inthe boat during the storm.) “It's time to get up and do something aboutthis mess!”

But the whole point of the Christian story, atthe climax of the Jewish story, is that the curtain has been pulled back, thedoor has been opened from the other side, and like Jacob we have glimpsed theladder between heaven and earth with messengers going to and fro upon it.

“The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” says Jesus inMatthew's Gospel. He is not offering a new way of getting to heaven hereafter,but announcing that the will of heaven, the very life of heaven, is nowoverlapping with Earth in a new way—a way which leaves together all the momentsfrom Jacob's ladder to Isaiah's vision, all the patriarchal insights andprophetic dreams, and turns them into a human form, the human voice, a humanlife, a human death.

Jesus is the reason for believing in Theism; and,with that, prayer has come of age. Heaven and earth overlap permanently whereJesus stands, where Jesus hung, where Jesus rises, wherever the fresh wind ofhis Spirit blows.

Living as a Christian means living in the worldas it's been reshaped by and around Jesus and his Spirit. That means thatChristian prayer is a different kind of thing—different both from the prayer ofthe Pagans who are only getting in touch with the inwardness of nature, andthat of a Deist, sending out messages across the lonely emptiness.

Christian prayer is about standing at the faultline, being shaped by the Jesus who knelt in Gethsemane, groaning in travail,holding heaven and earth together like someone trying to tie two pieces of ropewith people tugging at the other end to pull them apart.

In the garden of Gethsemane, we see the work thatprayer is. No wonder we give up so easily. No wonder we need help.

Fortunately there is plenty available.

Discovering Helping Prayer

Last week, we looked at The Lord's Prayer.

I remember a course I took in Pastoral Theology.The Professor was discussing prayer and he focused on the words before theLord's prayer. When you pray, do not use vain repetition as the pagans do. Thecall for us was to not say the same thing over and over as if the prayer itselfwas magic.

Prayer is the heartfelt communication between usand God. When it comes from the heart, it is open, honest, genuine and sincere.

There is no proper formula for prayer. Guesswhat? You do not have to address God in King James English with “Thees'” and“Thous'!”

So, my professor suggested that we be spontaneousin prayer. But then, The Lord's Prayer itself isn't a spontaneous prayer.

People say, written prayers are not genuinebecause they are not created by the person who is making the prayer.

I am afraid that that is like saying, unless Ipersonally constructed every single part of my car, it isn't mine, and I cannotdrive it. It wouldn't be authentic.

So, when Jesus' followers asked him to teach themto pray, he didn't tell them to divide the focus groups and look deep withintheir own hearts. He didn't begin by getting them to think slowly through theirlife experiences to discover what types of personality each of them have, tospend time getting in touch with their buried feelings.

He and I both understood the question they hadasked: they wanted, and needed, a form of words which they couldlearn and use.

There's nothing wrong with having a formof words composed by somebody else. Indeed, this probably something wrong withnot using such a form. Some Christians some of the time, can sustain a lifeof prayer were entirely out of their own internal resources. When I was a kid,a block from my house was the shop where my daddy worked. The parking lot wasstone. By the middle of the summer, I had no problem running across that stonelot. But most people need shoes to walk on stone.

This is aimed in one particular direction: at thegrowing number of Christians in many countries who, without realizing, areabsorbing an element of late modern culture as though it were Christianity itself. To them I want to say: there isnothing wrong, nothing sub Christian, nothing to do with “works-righteousness,”about using words, even forms, prayers, and sequences of prayers written byother people and other centuries.

Indeed the idea that I must always find my ownwords, that I must generate my own devotion from scratch every morning, thatunless I think of new words that must be spiritually lazy are deficient—thathas the all-too-familiar sign of human pride, of “doing it my way”: of, yes,works-righteousness.

Good liturgy—other people's prayers, whether forcorporate or individual use—can be, should be, a sign and means ofgrace, an indication of humility (accepting that someone else has said, betterthan I can but I deeply want to express) and gratitude. How many times have

I can't tell you how many times I am grateful forthe old prayer, set to music that goes:

Precious Lord, Take My hand,
Lead me on, Let me stand...
...through the storm, through the night,
Lead me on, to the Light,
Precious Lo' rd take my hand.

Or, when feeling left out of the world and itsgames I pray, again with music, but to God:

I've Got a Mansion, just over the hilltop,
In the bright land where, we'll never grow old,
And Someday yonder,
We will never more Wander,
But walk the streets that,
Are purest gold.

I didn't write it, but whoever did has my undyinggratitude. It's just what I wanted. And when we read those things, or listen tothem and they strike a cord inside of us that just makes us want to shout themout. It is a good thing.

That doesn't mean that spontaneous prayer iswrong either.

Form can be restricting. David, before he facedGoliath was given the best form that money could buy. Saul gave him his ownarmor. And David couldn't use it. Instead, he choose his own method. He had touse a simpler weapon that was just right for him.

So, if, in worship we read a liturgy, you share aprayer or something that someone else did that has meaning to you. Don't beoffended because it is form. At the same time, if someone has something new,fresh or just a time of heartfelt crying out to God. It is okay.

Because prayer is where we bring heaven and earthtogether. And it pleases God.

Prayer, An Act of Submission

2012-01-15T08:20:00.001-05:00

Text: Matthew 6:9-13

Focus: Prayer

Function: To Help the Congregation Seehow important prayer is to worship.|

Form:

Intro:

Let us pray together the Lord's prayer.

Our Father in heaven

Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earthas it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, aswe forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver usfrom the evil one. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.Amen.

How do we say those words? Iwas a young minister, and I was concerned about how well the worship flowed, Iwas concerned about how many esses were spoken together, so I always instructedthe congregation to use the words debts and debtors. One person questioned meabout the use of the word debts. He said “it sounds like you're going to thebank.”

Several people ask me about the proper words for the phrase. Do youknow what? God doesn't care! It isn't about the words and the forms, it's aboutthe heart.

This is a prayer about God's honor and glory. It's a prayer aboutGod's kingdom coming on the Earth as in heaven.

It was, after all, Jesus who is going around saying it was time forthe Father's name to be honored, for his kingdom to be on earth as in heaven.

Jesus came to bring good news. God's kingdom on earth is goodnews for the world! There is healing for this sick, grace for the sinner, hopefor the widow and the orphan, freedom for prisoners, and the promise ofsalvation for everyone who believes.

God's kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven, is a kingdom where everyone is brought back into God's family. This is also pretty much whatChristianity is all about.

Therefore, the prayer is a way of saying to the Father: Jesus hascaught me in the net of his good news. The prayer says: I want to be part ofHis Kingdom movement.

I want to be part of his bread for the world agenda, for myself andfor others. I need forgiveness for myself, from sin, from debt, from everyweight around my neck and I intend to live with forgiveness in my heart and inmy own dealings with others.

Now notice something. In this prayer, at the heart of this prayer, wecommit ourselves to live in a particular way, a way we find difficult.

And because we live in the real world, where evil is still powerful,we need protecting and rescuing. And, in and through it all, I acknowledge andcelebrate the Father's power and glory.

Prayer is submission to God. An important act of submission. Prayer isus telling God that we need Him. It is us reminding ourselves that we are notindependent. It is us telling God that we believe.

And the Lord's prayer is us, committing ourselves to live differentthan the world around us.

This prayer is a prayer of ultimate trust.

In it, we make the request of, and promise to, God that we will notlive in fear. We tell him that we trust him. We trust Him with everything. Hispromise is to make sure that today, we have what we need. Living by faith istrusting Him for TODAY and not letting fear grip our possibilities of tomorrow.

I remember, 25 years ago, living as a traveling salesman. I coveredSouthern Indiana, Kentucky, and parts of Tennessee. Most of the time, I wasable to receive 700, WLW. I loved the shenanigans of Gary Burbank in theafternoons. And I listened to the morning guy, he didn't seem as extreme as heis now. Anyway, one day he was talking about personal finances and savings.

A woman who sounded like she was still in her 20's called in and toldthe man that she felt insecure because all though their $250,000 house was paidoff, they had $600,000 stashed away already for their 3 kids college funds andthey had over $500,000 in emergency cash in case of a rainy day, she stilldidn't think they had enough to feel secure. She said she would not be happyuntil they had saved $2,000,000.

I am not exaggerating her numbers. I was appalled.

This prayer, the Lord's prayer says: “give us today our daily bread.”

It is a confession that we live by faith. It is an act of trust for usto say to God: “we will let you care for the future.”

It changes us. When John the Baptist began to preach the people wereconvicted by his messages. They came to him. John said: “if you have 2 coats,give one to someone who has none.”

But our culture says, you better hang on to that second coat, you mayfind yourself in trouble and need it.

The prayer “Give us this day our daily bread” is a prayer of trustthat today, we will live in the moment with God and rest in Him. Today. We willnot let fear of the future grip us.

You all should sit with our deacons when we discuss giving away ourlove fund money. There is no hoarding it for a rainy day. They are quick togive, because they know that God will supply the needs that we have fortomorrow.

This prayer is a commitment to another way of living. It is acommitment to trusting God for the future.

And of course, there is the whole question of forgiveness. Since we,in the affluent culture of North America are pretty sure that we are not goingto starve to death, most of us have that security for today's bread. So forus, forgiveness becomes one of ourbigger issues.

I am not going to pick on the rich. God loves everyone. God stillloves the rich, the powerful, the beautiful and the wealthy. But the poor andthe oppressed have always been close to His heart. God says that whoever mocksthe poor, mocks God (Proverbs 17:5).Because God is love, He promises to stick up for the powerless. God promises tojudge people who harm other people. Because the Bible calls hell a place ofutter darkness and loneliness, and at another time, a burning fire pit, I don'tknow what hell is exactly. But I know that God loves justice andhell is God's loving and fair judgment on behalf of all the oppressed.

We have promises from God that first, He knows how to avenge evil andsecond, He will (Romans 12:9).He promises it. And, at the same time, He commands us to let Him do the job ofrevenge. As Christians, vengeance belongs in the hand of God alone. Not us.

That is why forgiveness can be hard. What if we forgive someone andGod does the same thing? What if God's concept of justice for us is much moremerciful than ours?

What if, instead of getting revenge on our enemies, God chooses tobless them?

If we let go the idea of vengeance, what guarantee do we have that theyget their punishment?

Don't beat yourself up if you are feeling this way. I am not going toshame you for having those feelings.

I have three boys. And the older two were always trying to strengthenthe metal of the youngest, to toughen him up. And, I know that they did itbecause they loved him. I know that because I am the youngest of 4 brothers andthere were a lot of things that happened that my mom never saw.

But there were times when I as dad had to step in and discipline theolder two because they may have gone to far. If I never stood up for theyoungest, who at the time was the weakest, then the youngest child would havereason to believe that I did not love him. The younger child would have feltlike he was Cinderella with wicked older siblings.

But that isn't God. And because God loves the oppressed and theoppressor, he does fair punishment.

God loves our enemies. God loves them as much as He loves us.

God never gets revenge. When I punished the older boys, it wasn'tbecause I loved the younger more than them. Nope, protecting the one whilepunishing the other was an act of love toward both of them.

When we let God deal with our enemies, then God does what is best,sometimes with punishment, for them.

But we don't see as God sees.

We are hurting. We want to see God punish them, because we want toknow that God loves us. So don't beat yourself up about needing vindication. Weall need to know that God loves us enough to protect us.

Now this gets deep. Because sometimes God is dealing with wholenations, and sometimes God lets evil go in order to prove to a nation, or aperson, that they are indeed wicked. God proves Himself right in all of that.And sometimes we believers are the recipients of that evil. We do not know thecosmic struggle. Job had no idea of what was going on in heaven when Satanattacked him.

How do we trust that God is doing the right thing? For us? For ourenemies?

He is.

This part of the prayer is important. It is a way of life. This wholeprayer is a way of life. Jesus says: “if you want to be forgiven, thenforgive.” He makes it simple. And in Matthew, this is the only part of theprayer that Jesus chooses to explain. Jesus wanted to make sure that he wasn'tspeaking in some sort of metaphor when He made that claim.

Prayer is indeed an act of submission. Because in that prayer offorgiveness, we say to God: “God we trust you to vindicate us, forgive us anddeal with our enemies.” We trust you to do it with love.

We pray: “Your Kingdom come.” Here is the big difference between beinga part of God's Kingdom and the World's kingdom.

The members of the worlds Kingdoms seek revenge. The members of God'skingdom seek what is best, both for themselves, for their neighbors and fortheir enemies.

What is best for our enemies.

This prayer. This prayer where we are asking God to let the events inour lives transpire according to the heavenly plan instead of the worldly planis a way for us to submit to God.

We pray: Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

We are not praying, your will be done as long as it fits with myplans, goals and dreams. In this prayer, we are submitting to God's plan.Period.

This prayer teaches us how to be Christians.

Celebrating God in Scripture and Breaking Bread

2012-01-08T09:16:00.002-05:00

Adapted from Simply Christian, by N.T. Wright.

Text:Communion

Focus: remembering Jesus' sacrifice

Function: to help people worship from a pure heart.

Form: Storytelling

Intro:

Worship is CelebratingGod.

We worship God becausehe both created us and he redeemed us. God saved us. And hissalvation wasn't cheap. Perhaps the plan, all along, was for sin todestroy this world, and then God Himself appears to destroy sin andsave us. He proved His love by personally coming to earth as Jesus,walking among us, healing us, showing us how to live in love, andthen dying on the cross for our sins. The best response to all thatis worship.

Some people woulddispute the idea that we are sinners.

There are two ways oflooking at our world. We can behold all of its beauty and believethat everything is peachy keen. Or, we can accept both the beauty andthe evil that has overtaken much of the planet

Wise Christian worshiptakes fully into account the fact that creation has gone horriblywrong, has been so corrupted and spoiled that a great fault line runsright down the middle of it-and down the middle of all of us, who, asimage-bearing human beings, were meant to be taken care of it.

That's why Christianworship is also the glad celebration of God's action in the past inJesus the Messiah, and the promise that what he accomplished in dyingfor our sins will be completed. In other words, as in Revelation 5,worship of God as Redeemer though, the lover and rescuer of theworld, must always accompany and complete the worship of God asCreator.

Celebrating Godthrough Scripture:

We've a story to tellto the nations. A story of good news.

Telling the story,rehearsing the mighty acts of God: this is near the heart ofChristian worship, a point not always fully appreciated in theenthusiastic, free-flowing worship coming in many circles today.

We know God throughwhat he has done in creation, in Israel, and supremely in Jesus, andwhat he has done in his people and in the world through the HolySpirit.

Christian worship isthe praise of this God, theone who has done thesethings. And the place we find that God-given an account of theseevents is of course Scripture: the Bible.

Later on, we will focusfor a few sermons on the importance of Bible and Bible study. But inthe context of worship: reading the Bible aloud is always central toChristian worship.

I have been guilty ofcutting back on this for whatever reason: sometimes trimming readingso that the service doesn't go on too long, or having only the fewverses I am to preach that misses the point.

The reason we readScripture in worship isn't primarily to inform a congregation aboutsome biblical passage they might have forgotten. Reading scripturein worship is, first and foremost, the central way of celebrating whoGod is and what he's done.

Unfortunately, today'sworship services are so short that it would be impossible to readchapters of the Scripture and keep the worship service to amanageable time. The worship of God is more important than our time.

Somehow, when theScripture is read out loud, it changes us. We enter into the realm ofthe divine. Spiritual things begin to happen in our own lives. It islike a twisted piece of steel that is suddenly straightened and madeuseful again. God's word heals us.

Even the simplest actsof Christian worship ought therefore always to focus on the readingof Scripture. Sometimes there will be a time for the congregation tomeditate on one or more the readings. Sometimes there will be anopportunity to respond.

That's how Christianworship begins to develop the particular shape, a “liturgy”: as ashowcase for Scripture, a way of making sure that the faithful aretreating it with the seriousness it deserves.

And yet, the idea ofliturgy is often discarded as being old-fashioned, to traditional,boring, or even meaningless.

However,the Bible is one of Gods great revelations of himself to humanity. Itis important to God. Psalm138:2 says: “You have exalted your word over yourname.” Honoring Scripture,honors God; as long as we use the Scripture to point us to Jesus,instead of justifying ourselves.

The Bible is, in short,the staple diet of Christian worship, as it is of Christian teaching.The story of the two disciples walking with Jesus shows us the good.As Jesus explained scripture to them, the text says, their heartsburned. But then, Jesus revealed Himself to them.

But their eyes wereopened, and they recognized him, when he broke the bread.

CelebratingGod-through the breaking of bread

The second aspect ofCelebrating God comes from a pattern that Jesus Himself taught us.And no, I am not speaking of the Lord's prayer. I am speaking ofCommunion.

Threeopening remarks. First, we break bread and drink wine together,telling the story of Jesus and his death, because Jesus knew thatthis set of actions would explain the meaning of his death in a waythat nothing else-no theories, no clever ideas-could ever do. Afterall, when Jesus died for our sins it wasn't so he could fill ourminds with true ideas, however important they may be.

Jesus didn't die justto fill our minds with true ideas.

He died, so he could dosomething, namely, rescue us from evil and death.

Second, it isn't apiece of sympathetic magic, as some have often worried it might be.This action, like the symbolic actions performed by the ancientprophets, becomes one of the points at which heaven and earthcoincide.

Paul says “as oftenas you eat the bread and drink the cup you the Lord's death until hecomes” (First Corinthians 11:26). He doesn't mean that it's a goodopportunity for a sermon.

Likea handshake or a kissdoingit says it.Like a handshake or a kiss doing itsays it.When we do communion, we proclaim Jesus.

Third, nor is thebread-breaking a mirror occasion for remembering something thathappened a long time ago. When we break the bread and drink the wine,we find ourselves joining the disciples in the upper room. We areunited with Jesus himself as he prays in Gethsemane and stands beforeCaiaphas and Pilate. We become one with him as he hangs on the crossand rises from the dead. Past and present come together. Events fromlong ago are fused with the meal we are sharing here and now.

But it isn't only thepast comes forward into the present. The bread-breaking is one of thekey moments when the thin partition between heaven and earth becomestransparent, it is also one of the key moments when God's futurecomes rushing into the present.

Like the children ofIsrael still in the wilderness, tasting food which the spies havebrought back from the secret trip to the promised land, in thebread-breaking we are tasting God's new creation—the new creationwhose prototype in origin is Jesus himself.

This is one of thereasons why he said “this is my body” and “this is my blood.”we don't need elaborate with long Latin names to get to the point.Jesus—the real Jesus, the living Jesus, the Jesus who dwells inheaven and rules over us as well, the Jesus who has brought God'sfuture into the present—once not just to influence us, but torescue us; not just to inform us, but to feed us, with himself.That's what this meal is about.

Perhapsthe biggest problem that Christians have faced about this meal is theidea that it is a “good work,” which people “do” in order toearn God's favor. Some still feel that way aboutanythingthat is “done” in church; but unless we are to sit absolutelystill and say nothing at all, we are bound to “do”somethingin our worship together.

Even choosing to besilent, as in a Quaker meeting, is a choice to do something—namely,to come together and be silent. Of course, there is a danger thatfussy ritual will forget what it's there for and become an end initself.

Sometimes the building,the ritual itself, the pastor, the organist, the choir can be thebest that money can buy. But then, people stop caring about theobject and focus on the form of worship.

Yesterday, Kathy and Icelebrated 35 years of marriage. I had a friend, whose friendssurprised them with an anniversary celebration. They told them todress up in their finest. At the appointed hour, a rented limousinepicked them up from their home. The limousine driver proceeded totake them to McDonald's where they were served McDonald's food bycandlelight, fine linen, fancy silverware, and an haughty taughtymaître d'.

But it was stillMcDonald's food.

Stuffy formalism andtraditionalism can be just that: something all fancy but thesubstanced isn't there.

Equally, there are somethat are so proud of having gotten rid of the stuffy formalism andritual for a free worship which iitself can be reduced to aMcDonalds' form of worship. They too, are concentrating on theoutward form rather than the real meaning.

Thedanger, you see, is not confined to “high-church” ritual. It isnot only present when people insist on crossing themselves at exactlythe right moment and exactly the right manner; it is just as presentwhen people insist on raising their arms in the air during worship,or indeed when they insist on notcrossing themselves, raising their arms, or doing any other action.

I have on occasion beenwryly amused when the churches abandoned its robed choir and organ because they seem to “professional,” and then employ half a dozenpeople to spend the whole service twiddling knobs and pushing slidersto control the sound, the lights, and the overhead projector.

Anythingthatneeds to be done during worship can become a ritual performed for itsown sake. Likewise, anything that needs to be done during worship canbe done as an act of pure gratitude, a glad response to free grace.

Christians arguewhether bread and wine should be done every Sunday, once a quarter,or once or twice a year accompanied as it was with the firstcommunion service, the love feast.

There is also thedanger that doing Communion means that we are ourselves practicingour own form of sacrifice. People sometimes suppose that the point ofthe sacrifice, in the Old Testament, was for the worshiper to “do”something to earn God's favor. Not so. That rests on misunderstandingof the Jewish law itself, in which the sacrifices were required byGod, and were offered in Thanksgiving, not as an attempt to bribe orplacate God but as a way of responding to his love.

Communion is worshipwithin our larger picture of heaven and earth, of God's future in ourpresent.

Heaven and earthoverlap, and do so at certain specific times and places. That's whyChristian worship is what it is.

In Worship, heaven andearth are joined.

This, I believe, is theright framework for all our thinking about worship. The rest of thediscussion about worship is footnotes, temperament, tradition,and—let's face it—individual likes and dislikes (which is what Icall them when they are mine) and irrational prejudices (which iswhat I call them when they're yours).

What I love aboutcommunion is its mystery. Every time I approach the bread and thewine, I think of the terrible truth behind it. Jesus was killed torestore us to God. They took His life. But the symbol of useating the bread and drinking the wine means it wasn't them whokilled Jesus. It was me.

Andthat thought makes me shutter. But on the other hand, Jesus gavehis life. We took it. But He willingly gave it. And He did it forlove.

Let us break the breadtogether.

Wewill prepare ourselves. I spoke of the way that worship can be meretradition, focusing on the form instead of the person we worship. Ispoke of how that form can be just as bad in the churches that claimthey are free and have no form as much as it can be bad in thechurches that have elevated ritual over God himself.

When the text fromtoday states that it is possible to take the bread and wine in anunworthy manner, he is speaking as much about anything as insincereforms of worship.

We often give pause toconsider if there is someone with whom we need to offer forgiveness,or a sin we need to repent of. And that is good and important. But wealso must consider the importance of the meaning of it.

In communion, we areproclaiming Jesus' salvation.

Our communion is notclosed to members only. But understand this, God set it aside forbelievers only. That doesn't mean that you have joined us, althoughbelonging to a body of believers is important. What it means is thatyou accept Jesus mercy on your behalf and by taking this bread andwine, you are saying to God: “I believe in Jesus and what Jesus didto save me and my hope, my salvation, my reconciliation to You restsin Jesus.”

Take a moment toself-examine.

Celebrating God

2012-01-01T09:01:00.001-05:00

Text:Revelation 4:1-11

Focus: Worship

Function: Tohelp people see the importance of worship (here).

Form: StoryTelling

Intro:

Happy New Year! Lastyear was pretty hard on us as a Church. But we are still here! And Ithank God for that. Some pronounced us dead and or dying. And I don'tblame them. It hasn't been easy.

But Jesus said that Hewill build His Church and the gates of hell cannot stop it. (Matthew16:18)

We have a lot planned.You met Kathy Royer. You will also meet Dan Poole. They are twopeople from the district who are going to help us find out more aboutourselves and find ways to bring about healing.

And in prayer, and bythe witness of The Holy Spirit, in conversation with Karen Garrett,our Leadership Team chair we are going to focus on the basicfundamentals of Christianity.

We want to get back towhat it really means to be a Christian. So, for the first 3 months ofthis year, instead of the Lectionary, we are going to look at basicthemes like Worship, Bible Study, Prayer, Going to Church, Simpleliving, Service toward God and others, Fasting and Giving.

And that sounds like alot, but what we are really doing is trying to keep it simple.

There is a section ofthis book (hold up SimplyChristian) that is titled“Reflecting the Image (of Jesus).”

After all, that is whatChristians are, the image of Jesus.

And throughout thesethree months one thing will be evident. It is about God, not Us. Andit all starts with Worship of God.

And,I need to disclose that most of my material is not going to beoriginal. I am seeing it through the lens of a mind much moreprofound than mine. The mind of Bishop N. T. Wright. Of course, heisn't so hifalutin that he goes by that title. His people know him asPastor Tom.

Worship is differentthan entertainment. Movies, football, basketball, soccer, theater andmusic is entertainment. But you are not coming to be entertained.Worship is about us proclaiming TO GOD, His worth.

And here is why: Whenwe begin to glimpse the reality of God, the natural reaction is toworship him. To not have that reaction is a fairly sure sign that wehaven’t yet really understood who He is or what He has done.

The best way todiscover worship is to join in and find out. However, many people whodo that for a while, or even for their whole lives, find themselvesgetting stuck in the routine. (ANYONE?)

But that isn't all bad.Perhaps they begin to ask deeper questions: What does it all mean?Why do we do it? And many who don’t join in with worship, or whoused to but stopped a long time ago, remain puzzled as to the pointof it all. For people in any of these categories, and indeed forpeople who enjoy worship but want to go deeper, a good place to startis with our text, the fourth and fifth chapters of the last book ofthe Bible, the Revelation of St. John.

Here we find ourselveseavesdropping on a majestic mystery. John the “seer," orprophet, is describing a vision he has seen. And John himself issomething of a fly on the wall, peeping into the very throne room ofGod Himself. And we, we are watching the scene through his eyes. Weare eaves-dropping it second hand, as it were.

The scene tells us agreat deal about worshiping the one true God.

John has beenprivileged to watch something going on in heaven. This doesn’t meanthat he has been fast-forwarded to some remote future.

At the end ofRevelation, he describes the distant future. And it doesn’t looklike this earlier vision at all. Nor does it mean that he’s beensnatched off to some distant location far up in the sky Rather, whenhe says that “a door stood open in heaven,” he is insisting onone of the main points of the book of Revelation -namely that God’ssphere and ours are not far apart- and that at certain places andmoments they interlock. (fingers interlocked)

Sometimes the boundarybetween them is like a thin partition, in which, to some people andat some times, a door is opened or a curtain pulled back, so thatpeople in our dimension can see what’s going on in God's dimension.

What John sees in hisvision is the regular life of heaven, the worship of God which, inthat dimension, is going on all the time. What John sees is what ishappening in heaven right now, as we speak.

It is an astonishingsight. John begins by describing God's throne -and cautiously- Godhimself.

Thunder and lightningare coming from the throne, telling us that this is a place ofmajesty and awesome glory Around the throne are representatives ofboth the animal kingdom and the world of humanity: thewhole creation is worshiping God -for all He is worth. There are twosongs sung. One by the animals and one by Humans and Animals. Theanimals are singing a song of God’s eternal holiness. It is a Songstraight from our Hymnal. (SING)

Holyholy holy
Lord God the Almighty
Who wert and art and ever moreshall be.

The scene that Johndepicts doesn’t stop with a single song of praise; in fact, thescene is only just beginning. The animal creation praises Godceaselessly; the humans join in. But now their song is fuller,because they have something more to say; they cast their crownsbefore God’s throne, not just to celebrate his greatness but alsoto express their understanding of why they, as His creatures, areright to offer him praise. A songthat comes from Contemporary Christian music:

Thou Art Worthy,Thou Art Worthy, Though art Worthy, Oh Lord
To receive Glory,Honor and Power
For Thou hast Created all things, and for Theypleasure, we are created, Oh Lord.

Here we see God’sworld as it should be, God’s world as it already is within thedimension of heaven. All creation worships God; human beings, throughtheir chosen representatives, worship God because they have graspedan essential secret: they know why God ought to be praised, and whythey want to praise Him—because he has made everything.

This is the point atwhich many of us want to say: “But wait, the world is a mess! It’sall very well for people to praise God as creator -but look at thestate of his creation! What is God going to do about it?”

And there is good news.And this is also right at the heart of what Christian worship is allabout.

If you were afraid thatsaying to God: “What are you going to do about it?” is a form ofblasphemy, don't be afraid. Because that it is exactly the reactiontaking place before our eyes in the heavenly court itself.

At the start of thefifth chapter of Revelation, John notices that the figure on thethrone is holding a scroll, which we gradually realize is the scrollof God’s future purposes, the purposes through which both theoppressor and the oppressed will get their justice and the world willbe healed. Because that is the story of Revelation. The problem,however, is that nobody is able to open the scroll. The fact that weall have sinned and harmed others means that no creature is found whois worthy.

That does not mean thatGod isn't powerful enough.

Ever since Creationbegan, God has committed himself, to working through his creatures-in particular, through us, His image-bearing human beings- but theyhave all let him down.

And in heaven, for amoment it looks as though all God’s plans are going to be thwarted.

But then there appears,beside the throne, a different kind of animal. It is, we are told, aLion; but then we are also told that He is a Lamb. To readRevelation, you have to get used to its kaleidoscopic imagery.

The beings are highlysymbolic. The Lion is an ancient Jewish image for the Messiah, theking of Israel and the world. And The Lamb is the customarysacrificial offering for the sins of Israel and the world. Both theseroles are combined in Jesus in a way that nobody had ever imaginedbefore but that now makes perfect sense. And when He —theLion/Lamb— appears, those who were already singing (the animals andthe humans) turn their praise of God the Creator into their praise ofGod the Redeemer. God Himself takes on this dual role. Here are thewords directly from the text:

“Thou are worthyto take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slaughteredand by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe andlanguage and people and nation; you have made them to be a kingdomand priests serving our God, and they will reign on earth.”

Then, like a greatconcert with more choirs joining in from all directions, the angelstake up the song:

“Worthy is theLamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom aridmight and honor and glory and blessing!”

And, at last, “everycreature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea,and all that is in them” join in the song:

“To the one seatedon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory andmight, forever and ever! Amen!”

AND THAT, that,is what Worship is all about! It is the glad shout of praise thatarises to God the Creator and God the rescuer from the creation thatrecognizes its Maker and creation itself that acknowledges thetriumph of Jesus the Lamb.

That is the worshipthat is going on in heaven, in God’s dimension, all the time. Thequestion we ought to be asking is how best we might join in?

Because that is what weare supposed to do. And let’s get one thing clear before we go anyfurther. There is always a suspicion that creeps into discussions ofthis kind, a worry that the call to worship God is rather like theorder that goes out from a dictator whose subjects may not like himbut have learned to fear him. “The Dictator wants an hundredthousand people to line the route for his birthday parade? Verywell, he shall have them, and they will all be cheering and waving asif their lives depended on it —because, in fact, they do. Turn awayin boredom, or don’t turn up at all, and it will be the worse foryou.”

If it has crossed yourmind that worshiping the true God is like that, let me offer you avery different model:

One Saturday afternoon,while I was bored I was flipping through the channels on TV. I caughtthe start of a couple's figure skating routine.

Now, generally, I wouldrather watch golf than figure skating, but something seemed to tellme to keep the channel there.

I am not a figureskating judge, but to me, for all intents and purposes, it wasperfect. It was just the right music, just the right costumes, justthe right choreography. The couple skated and danced as one. It wasprobably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

It was so good that atthe end of the routine, I found myself weeping.

And, it turned out thatI was not the only one impressed by it. After the ovation, everysingle judge gave them a perfect “10.”

But maybe the mostelectrifying part was the ovation itself.

The performance was sobeautiful that the audience just sat there for a moment, completelytransfixed. They too, were stunned by the majesty of it. And finally,when they realized that they had witnessed something of unsurpassedbeauty, they erupted into thunderous applause.

When you get to witnesssomething of such incredible beauty, at the end, you feel like youare bigger, wiser, -like maybe you have just grown more mature.

That sort of responseis pretty close to genuine worship. Something like that, but more so,is the mood of Revelation 4 and 5.

That is what, when wecome to worship the living God, we are being invited to join in.

When something likethat happens to you, you are aware of things in a new way. You arechanged.

Worship changes us.lt’s a bit like falling in love. In fact, it is a kind of fallingin love. And when you fall in love, when you’re ready to throwyourself at the feet of your beloved, what you desire, above all, isunion.

This brings us to thefirst of two golden rules at the heart of spirituality. You becomelike what you worship. When you gaze in awe, admiration, andwonder at something or someone, you begin to take on something of thecharacter of the object of your worship.

Those who worship moneybecome, eventually, human calculating machines. Those who worship sexbecome obsessed with their own attractiveness or prowess. Those whoworship power become more and more ruthless. Those who worship anger,want to hear a message that makes them mad about somebody else. Thosewho worship excitement want to be entertained.

So what happens whenyou worship the Creator God whose plan to rescue the world and put itto rights has been accomplished by the Lamb who was slain? The answercomes in the second golden rule: because you were made in God'simage, worship makes you more truly human. It is biblical:Genesis 2, In the Image of God did God create Adam and Eve. When yougaze in love and gratitude at the God in whose image you were made,you do indeed grow. You discover more of what it means to be fullyalive.

The opposite is alsotrue. When you give that same total worship to anything or anyoneelse, you shrink as a human being. It doesn't, of course, feel likethat at the time. When you worship part of the creationas though it were the Creator himself—in other words, when youworship an idol-—you may well feel a brief “high.” But, like ahallucinatory drug, that worship achieves its effect at a cost: whenthe effect is over, you are less of a human being than you were tobegin with. That is the price of idolatry.

The opportunity, theinvitation, the summons is there before us: to come and worship thetrue God, the Creator, the Redeemer, and to become more truly humanby doing so. Worship is at the very center of all Christian living.

Joy

2011-12-18T08:37:00.000-05:00

Text: Romans16:25-27

Focus: Joy

Function: Tohelp us praise the Lord.

Form: StoryTelling

Intro:

I had an acquaintanceonce in the Ministry who did nothing but prison ministry. He was inthe employ of Chuck Colson ministries.

And he was in preachingclass with me. Now, in preaching class, we all learned the basics,and then we had to experiment on each other.

And, let us call him:“Brother John,” well brother John did his practice sermon as ifhe were in a prison. And what he decided to do was to re-frame thestory of the Good Samaritan.

Instead of a Priest, aLevite and the Good Samaritan, he used a preacher, a worship leaderand a gang member. The robbers were members of a gang thatrepresented one race, the victim represented a second race and thehero represented a gang member from another race who, because he knewJesus, helped out his mortal enemy.

It was a memorablesermon. Very Good. I can almost repeat it. He used all the language,of the time, that one might hear on the mean streets or in theprison. I remember the line, the robbers pulled out their heaters,that used to be slang for gun and drilled the Krypt (the rival gangmember) full of holes.

I suppose that he did agreat job connecting with his imaginary audience. And that isimportant, when we were at the last Kairos Weekend, I remember one ofthe guys at our table saying this, after one of our team members, whohad been locked up previously for some sort of violent crime say: “Ifigured that you were all just a bunch of Sunday School boys cominghere to set us straight. But I appreciate that you brought in peoplewho could relate to prison life.”

Anyway, my friend gotan “A” on his trial sermon, but there was one thing that reallybothered me and the professor.

Every time “BrotherJohn” wanted to stop, catch his breath, collect his thoughts, orsegue into another aspect of the sermon, he interjected one of twophrases. They were “glory to God” or “Praise the Lord.”

Now, one might thinkthat there is nothing wrong with that, but the funny thing was in theplacement.

For example, he said:“and the guys jumped him and filled him full of holes, glory toGod.” And then something like, “and the guy laid bleeding todeath on the ground, praise the Lord.” “The preacher had nothingto do with the victim, so he crossed to the other side of the road,glory to God...”

He kept saying “praisethe Lord” and “Glory to God” whenever something terriblehappened.

Inappropriate.

Yesterday we werelocked out of a car, it was freezing cold and we were trying to get apiece of metal on the lock button by wedging the door open a littlewith a crowbar and running a coat-hanger in it.

I remember mutteringunder my breath, To God, “Lord, we could use a little help here.”

All of a sudden my sonlooks inside the car and notices that the passenger door wasunlocked. We had tried it earlier, and maybe, once when that metalhit the power lock something did happen.

But my son was quick tosay, appropriately: “Praise the Lord.”

Praise the Lord!

In this letter to theRomans, Brother Paul has just laid out what salvation means, he haslaid out the mystery of Jesus death and resurrection, he hasaddressed the question as to whether or not the Jewish people arestill God's own people, he has explained how we, the gentiles fitinto this mystery. He speaks of sin, atonement, forgiveness,reconciliation with God, living by faith, the power of the HolySpirit to help us pray, both with our minds and with the Spiritualgift of tongues, if one is so blessed.

A lot is in the book ofRomans.

I can image that at theend of the book, Paul is just sitting back and saying to Himself: Sowhat?

And it isn't a mocking“so what?”

No, he realizes thatwhat God has done is an incredible miracle.

He repeats how the OldTestament prophets could not really understand the mystery of knowingGod and the way God has redeemed us and brought us back into His ownfamily.

And he gives theappropriate response. Praise the Lord.

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!

It wasn't like myfriend who may have been using the name of the Lord in a vain way.No!

He has something torejoice in.

Jesus' coming is acause for great joy!

Although thesemysteries are clear in Brother Paul's mind. Although scholars pourover his writings and still try to delve into the incredible natureof what he teaches. Although our salvation is spelled out in abeautiful way in the book he has just written. Although heunderstands the mysteries well enough to write it out clearly for us.

He is still amazed atthe wonder of what it meant for all of humanity that Jesus Christ wasborn!

And his response issimple and wonderful: Praise the Lord!

Listen, brothers andsisters, as Christians, Joy is an important part of our lives.

Sometimes circumstancescan get in the way. So, I was reflecting on it this week.

My brother is reallysick. He is fighting stage 4 cancer and on top of that, he fell andbroke his leg in 3 places and his ankle in 1. He laid on the ice for45 minutes and had extensive surgery on Thursday to remove necrotictissue.

I wondered, what doeshe have to rejoice in? He is going to spend Christmas in a nursinghome and he is only 60.

On top of that, he losthis job in 2008, his extended benefits have run out, the businessventure he tried didn't pan out and now all he has to go on is hisdisability.

People could sit backand say there is another person who may be able to say, along withthe Great sufferer, Job; “Oh woe is me!”

Yet joy is a commonplace in the heart and life of a believer.

One could ask, justwhat does a person who is suffering have to be thankful for? Justwhat do they have to rejoice in?

Well, brother Paul whowrote these words was no stranger to hardship either.

On 3 occasions theyattempted to kill him by stoning him, and somehow he survived.

He spent a day and anight swimming in the ocean until he was rescued.

He was persecuted,placed in chains, arrested, and beaten for his faith on manyoccasions.

And still, he stops towrite these words.

He says: “Praise theLord!”

He says: “What Godhas done for us by sending Jesus Christ to this earth is wortheverything!”

He remembers to keephis focus, even when he is suffering.

I remember preaching inHaiti during the food embargo in the early 90's. While I was there,the mission compound was broken in to and the guard was murdered byblack marketeers who stole the food that we were freely distributingto the poor. They stole it so that they could take advantage of thepoor and sell them what we intended to give them for free.

And during that time,we went to a village that was particularly hard hit.

The people, like somany of the world's poor had to walk 3 miles each way to obtain waterthat was suitable for drinking.

They were desperate.Their children were starving to death.

And at the same time,all of a sudden, after 30+ years of preaching Jesus, over half thevillage turned away from Voodoo to trust in Jesus.

Although they weredesperate, and we were doing all we could to relieve theirdesperation, as well as preach the good news to them. Although theyseemed to be people who had nothing to be thankful for.

We started out theworship service with a song, song in Creole.

And the joy of the Lordfell on to that place.

The translator gave methe words, it went something like this: “When I die, I am going tolive again!”

And there was genuinejoy in that little church building.

I suppose some may saythat it was merely some sort of psychological frenzy brought on byhope, a sense of mutual suffering and a religious experience.

But look again at thetext, it says: “God is able to strengthen you according to the Goodnews (the word is gospel) about Jesus.”

Joy is one of thosefruits of the Holy Spirit given to all believers that takes themthrough even the most desperate of times.

And I think about thetransformation that was taking place in that community in Haiti.

While I was preaching,the Voodoo witch doctors had set up stations around the Church andthey were attempting some sort of curse against us.

But the inside of thatbuilding was just like it was in the book of Acts, Chapter 2 when theHoly Spirit broke out in the midst of the Church and the people werefilled with joy and power.

Voodoo has the power tokeep people in bondage due to fear. Some of it is real, some of it isimaginary.

But the fear grips theheart.

And Paul tells us thatthere is something completely different in Jesus. There is freedom.It is good news!

It is not the bad newsof fear and bondage that had been keeping those people depressed forgenerations.

But, as the text says,It is the good news that changes the lives of people, brings theminto obedience to Jesus.

We watched that villagechange.

People started hopingagain. People started trying again. And in the effort, some successwas made. People in the midst of desperate situations experiencedreal joy, something to be happy about.

Good news was breakingout among them. Through the connections of the mission board, aMennonite Missionary team agreed to bring their well drilling rig tothe village to give them drinking water. Through the good news ofJesus, they were given living water that bore them up during theirsuffering.

This was life or deathto them.

So. I go back to mybrother. One could say “well, at least his children are notstarving to death, he should be happy he has health care and 3 squaremeals a day.”

But that isn't the joythat God is talking about here.

It is the joy theHaitians experienced when they sang that song: “When I die, I willlive again.”

Jesus came to set usfree. Jesus came to bring us Good News. Jesus came to bring us backinto the family of God.

For them, it wasfreedom from the fear of their voodoo witch doctors.

It was also freedomfrom the hard toil of walking 3 miles one way to get water.

And more than anything,it was the freedom, the good news, that we can be brought back intothe family of God.

And that, is why my ownbrother has to be thankful for.

His name is writtendown in the book of Life. He has been restored to the family of Godby faith in Jesus.

Peace!

2011-12-04T08:40:00.001-05:00

Text:Isaiah40:1-11

Focus:Peace

Function:TohelppeopleliveatpeacewithGod

Form: Biblestudy

Intro:

I love these first twoverses. In The Living Bible we read it like this: Comfort. YES!Comfort my people!

Speak tenderly to them.Let them know that their sad days are gone.

Isaiah is the preacher.But he is much more than just a preacher.

A sermon is the Word ofGod, filtered through the lens of the pastor, to help thecongregation understand the Word of God.

Sometimes the sermon isbest explained in a personal story as to how the preacher lived outthe passage. Sometimes it is in the story of another, or someoneclose to the preacher.

Sometimes, it is in theheart of what seems important at the time.

But this sermon isdifferent from the mind of the preacher trying to help a congregationmake sense of God's word.

This sermon is the Wordof God being created. This message was for these people in this time.It wasn't the preacher's opinion, it was the direct word of God tothe people.

And the message was,and the message still is: Comfort my people.

And here is the kicker.The people knew that they had been in the wrong and God says to them:“The punishments for your sins are over.”

God is saying to them.Take a breath. Think positive. Look ahead. I am the God who forgivesyou!

So, the time of God'sfavor for them is near.

God is saying to them.Get ready for it. Good News is coming.

Get ready for it,gospel is coming. Gospel means “good news!”

So how do you get readyfor good news?

Well, the prophet givesthem clear instructions.

He tells them to builda ceremonial highway to announce the coming of their hope.

What does a ceremonialhighway look like?

Well, in this passageit is symbolic.

Shave off the tops ofthe mountains, and fill in the depths of the valleys. Make the roadsmooth. Make it easier to walk on. Make it easy for everyone tofollow. Keep the stumbling blocks away from people.

Let this be a highwaythat goes out of its way to ensure that everyone is welcome.

I love the song: “TheHoly City.” I love the line in the song: “And all who would mightenter and no one be denied.”

Isaiah is telling theleaders to establish a just religion for the people of Israel.

It is like they arecommanded to make a path that is handicapped accessible.

Make sure that this isa place where everyone can find their way to the Lord.

This is a command fromthe Lord, and it is not only for the ancient Jews who heard thismessage, It is a message for the Church.

Because this prophecyis about the coming of Jesus.

It is about the factthat Jesus comes to take away our sins.

The price has beenpaid, not by us, but by God Himself.

God paved the way forour salvation. And, in order for us be ready for His appearance, weneed to be sure that the message is given in such a way that everyonecan hear.

And the idea of a“ceremonial highway” reminds me of Advent.

Advent. It is a seasonin the Christian calendar where we take the time to prepare for whatit means that God came to earth to save all the people of the earthfrom their sins.

It is symbolic.

And, it is important.

Someone sent me athought this week. It was a comment written by a woman, Rebecca Duke.She is a Christian but she said something to me that is haunting. Shesaid: “I've begun to realize that Christmas is about, among otherthings, the conditioning of children to consumerism.”

Repeat about theconditioning of our children to consumerism.

I might add, the god ofconsumerism.

And yet, God calls usto this ceremony. God calls us to this time of preparation for thecoming of the King.

And it is importantthat we remember what it is really about.

That highway, makingthe road smooth is at times at odds with what actually happens in ourculture, even the culture of Churches.

I am glad that we areaccessible here for persons with disabilities.

But I believe that Godis talking about spiritual handicaps. God is talking about creating aplace, in church, where sinners and people who are struggling canfind hope.

LuLu Roman was a famousCountry singer. She starred on the show He Haw. Her fame went to herhead and she became a drug addict. Because of her addiction, hercareer and what appeared to her to be her life, were over.

She wandered into theback of a little church. A church that I picture that is exactly likethis one.

Her scandal had hit thepapers and she was drug through the mud. At that time, Country Musicwas working hard to establish a family friendly, wholesomereputation. And she sinned against Country Music. She let her castmembers down. And in Nashville, she was scandal.

She had a spiritualhandicap that seemed insurmountable.

And that churched lovedon her. Accepted her. Lowered the bar and let her in. And God did theclean up work.

When I hear thosewords, lower the mountain tops, raise up the valleys, make the roadeasier to climb, I hear a call from God to make the church anhospital for sinners instead of a museum for saints.

During the season ofadvent, we are more generous than at other times. I hope that isbecause of the influence of what it truly means to be a Christian.

But I see a spiritualgenerosity called for in this scripture.

We look for people togive to. I spent a few hours this week tracking down people for ourdeacon's fund to minister to.

We don't really know ifthose families have other people helping them.

Oftentimes, it doesn'treally matter. Because the giving is about the act of generosity. Itis a spirit within us that calls us to the noble concept of universalbrotherhood and love.

It feels good to begenerous.

And Isaiah is callingfor this generosity to be both physical and spiritual.

Make it a place whereeveryone can come to God and find this same forgiveness.

And the ironic thing isthis. Our generosity is a condition for this great revelation.

When we make this placelevel, then the glory of the Lord will be revealed.

When we are as willingto give the grace that we have been freely given, God's glory isrevealed in us.

This is peace.

I love the Angelsannouncement at the birth of Jesus. Peace on earth to men of goodwill.

This lowering themountains, raising up the valleys, helping people overcome their ownspiritual inabilities to find access is what the angels were talkingabout.

This is peace becauseit isn't a tit for tat. It isn't about who gets more or who getsless. It isn't about giving the best present to prove to someone thatyou really love them. It isn't about getting a present that willtruly make you happy. Presents can't bring peace. It is grace becauseit focuses on God's gift to us. When we get that in properperspective, we begin to find a level of peace.

Listen to James 4:1-2a: ¹Whatis causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it because thereis a whole army of evil desires within you? ²Youwant what you don't have, so you kill to get it. You long for whatothers have, and can't afford it, so you start a fight to take itaway from them.

God is calling us toHis peace. He is not calling us to be so materialistic that we bringa can of pepper spray to the Wal-Mart to ensure that we get to spendmore than the next person.

And I know none of uswould ever consider the extreme actions of someone else.

But during Advent. Letus ponder the God who gave His life to redeem us verses the god ofconsumerism. It is almost as if we worship at that altar. Wesacrifice to it because if we don't our economy will go belly up.

It isn't much differentthat some of the idolatry that we find in the Old Testament.

The ancients practicedtheir own forms of idolatry. The Baal worshipers did perverse thingsthinking that it would increase their crops. Others paid sacrificesof even their own children in order to gain favor from the gods sothat they too would have a good year.

Our hope and our peacecome from God.

God has called us topeace. And although a Christmas tree, full of presents is a beautifuland peaceful image. Peace can never come from the presents that arepurchased.

Kathy Hepner readsomething to us on Wednesday. She said: Love is the sound you hearwhen you stop unwrapping presents Christmas morning and just taketime to listen.

There are two moreimages in this passage of scripture that bear witness for Advent.

In the next few verses.God commands the prophet to start shouting.

And the prophet isconfused, so he answers back to God.

But what do I say? God?

And God says: Yellthis. People are like grass. Grass grows, is cut down and dies,relatively quickly. And when a blade of grass dies, no one reallymisses it.

In comparison toeternity. You are more like a blade of grass than anything else.

Your place here is onlytemporary.

But then he is to shoutthat God's word is forever. God's Word is forever.

So. Don't place yourhope in things that will perish, even people. Don't be caught up inthe moment and in what feels good right now.

Because this truth,these truths last forever.

So. To make a roadsmooth, to make grace accessible to everyone is a truth that justkeeps on being true.

Why mention that allflesh is like grass? Why point out the temporary nature of everyperson?

Well, when we thinkabout peace, and we think about people, even those who oppose us,remember.

They are just asimpermanent as we are. Why let a person, and hatred, or unforgivenessfor that person stand between us and eternity.

All of human suffering,fighting and rejoicing is temporary. God, and His Word are eternal.So trust in Him.

We on the other hand,stop for a moment and say. But right now, it may not be convenient.Right now, we are fighting with this group of people, or that groupof people.

But God tells theprophet to remind that that His word is indeed eternal. And for God,that is not an excuse.

God wants to save theworld entire. Not just those we are comfortable with, not just thosethe most like us. This word. This Good News. This Gospel will neverchange.

And, today's lesson isabout peace, it is about God's comfort.

That leads us to thefinal image from the passage.

Jesus the GreatShepherd.

Herald the Good News!Isaiah is commanded to keep on shouting it.

He shall feed His sheeplike a shepherd. He shall carry them in his arms.

This is the promise ofpeace we have.

It comes at times whenwe feel like we are all alone and no one is there to care for us?

He is. He is here tocarry and nurture you.

And we, we are here aswell. We are imperfect and we are trying to make that road smooth.

But He will never fail.

GOOD NEWS IS COMING!

Big Things Come in Small Packages

2011-11-27T08:35:00.001-05:00

Text:Isaiah63:15– 64:12

Focus:Hope

Function:Tohelppeopleappreciatethemysteryoftheincarnation

Form: Narrative

Intro:

Perhapsyouthinkthisanoddpassagetobeginadventwith.

Isaiah is prayingbecause he and all of Israel are in trouble. Godhasallowedtheirenemies to defeat them.AllthehopethattheChildrenofIsraelhaveforbeingGod'schildrenappearstohavebeenwashedaway.

Itisiftheyareleftwiththeshellofareligiousstructure,withtheshellofachurch,withashell,ormaybeadistantmemoryofbettertimes.

Theyarewonderinghowthingscouldhavegottensobad.Why?

Theyareafraidandwhatisworse,theyareafraidtoevenhope.

Haveyoueverbeenthere?

HaveyoueverwonderedwhyGodjustdoesn'tshowupandproveHismightypower?

Inourtextthismorning,Isaiahtheprophetsitsinanuniqueposition.He is God's prophet and because of that, sometimes, he can see intothe future. HeremembersthatGod'speople,thepeopleofIsrael,alsositinthisuniquepositionover alloftheworld.

They,God'speople,areGod'sevangeliststothewhole world.That was God's plan.

TheOTfaithwascreatedtobethemeansbywhichGodwoulddrawtheentireworldtoHimselfthrough the Jewish people.

AndtheJewishpeoplebelieve because they have had some tremendous things happen for themby God. They knewwhytheyshouldworshipJehovahGod. Inthe past, they saw His mighty hand at work.

Isaiah,onbehalfofthenationpraysthisprayertoGod.

HeremindsGodofallthatGodhasdoneforhispeople.

ItisobvioustoIsaiah whytherestoftheworlddoesn'tbelieveinGodliketheJewishpeople.

God has done greatthings for the nation of Israel, and other nations simply don't havethat history.

But the problem is, itseems as if it has been a very long time since God has done anythingso spectacular.

Isaiah islongingforthosedaysagain.Aren'twealllongingforthosedays?

So he prays this prayerto God.

HeremindsGodthatwhenGodgavethemthe10commandments,thewholemountainshookwiththegloryofGod.

Letmere-readsomeoftheversesfromTheMessage:

Whateverhappenedtoyourpassion,yourfamousmightyacts?...

Whyareyouholdingback?

AbrahamandIsraelarelongdead.
Theywouldn'tknowusfromAdam.

Butyou,You,areourlivingFather!
Youareourredeemer,famousfrometernity!

So, why,God,didyoumakeuswanderfromyourways?

Whydidyoumakeuscoldandstubbornsothatwenolongerworshipedyouinawe?

OhI wish thatyouwouldripopentheheavensanddescend.

Makethemountainsshudderatyourpresence.

I wish that youwould shockyourenemiesintofacingyou.

Sincebeforetimebegan,noothernationhaseverseen,heardorevenimaginedaGodlike you!

Doyouseewhathashappened?

IsaiahknowsthathispeoplehaveturnedtheirbackonGod.Heknowsthattheyhaveturnedaway.HeknowsthatthepeoplehaverejectedGodandhavebeganignoringGodintheireverydaylives.

TheyarelivingasifGodisnotgoingtojudgeevil.Theyarelivingasifmankindalonesetsthestandardforrightandwrong.

Tothesepeople,thesepeoplewhoclaimtobethepeopleofGod,Godisn'treal.TheyhaveallforgottenjusthowpowerfulHereallyis.

AndIsaiahisalmostblamingGodforit.

He says, “you havemade us wander from your ways.”

HeremindsGodthatthereasonwhytheancientsfearedGodwasbecauseGodmadeHimselfknown.

ThedescriptioninDeuteronomyisawesome.

First,Mosesbuiltafencearoundthismountainandgaveacommandthatifanyonebrokethroughthefence,theywoulddiebecauseofGod'sawesomepresence.Hewasgoingupthemountain,andhewantedtobesurethatthepeopleweresafe.

Godisawesome.Andinsomesense,Heisterriblyfierce.Heisn'ttame.God islove.ButHeisn'ttame.

So,MoseswentupthemountainandGodshowsup.

Are We Playing it Safe?

2011-11-20T08:38:00.001-05:00

Text:Matthew25:14-30

Focus:Using our gifts and talents

Function: To warn people to be doing Kingdom work.

Form: GOK

Intro:

When the word “Talent”shows up in the original copies of the Bible, it always refers to aunit of measure. Most often, it refers to a measurement of weight.TheRoman talent weighed approximately 60 pounds.

As of 5:00 PM, lastnight, the price of gold per ounce was $1723. That is $22,399 perpound. Multiply that by 60, the weight of a talent, and you get$1,343,940 per talent.

The first servant at 5talents was given $5,343,940, the second servant, with 2 talents wasgiven $2,687,880 and of course, the lazy servant was given only$1,343,940.

All three of them weregiven a treasure. All three of them were given something of greatvalue from the master.

I know that you allunderstand that the term “talent” here does refer to a unit ofmeasurement.

Of course, if you hadno biblical background, and you hear the word “talent,” youdon't think of it as a measurement of gold, or a specific weight, butyou think of it as a gift, an ability.

It is interesting tonote that the according to Merriam-Websterdictionary,the change in the meaning of the word “talent” from a unit ofmeasurement, primarily a unit used to measure gold, changed in theEnglish language to an ability or a gift. And the change occurredsolely on the basis of this parable in the New Testament.

This parable changedthe meaning of a word in the English language. It is an importantparable.

What talents do we giveto God?

What do we hold back?

If this passage isspeaking only about money, then what do we give to God and what do wehold back?

I had this deaconcouple who lived right down road from the Church. They lived rightoff of the interstate. And they never, ever locked their house.

If my car wasn'tworking, I would just walk down to their house, grab the keys to oneof their spare cars, leave a note saying that I was the one whoborrowed it and return it when I was done.

When someone asked themhow they could be so trusting, gently and generous, they simplyanswered “God owns it all anyway.”

These talents,everything we have, is a gift to us from God and God wants us to begood stewards of the gifts.

Now the parable isabout the faithfulness of three men.

Two men are betterqualified than the third. The first man was better qualified than thesecond.

The first man is giventhis 5 million dollar amount to invest and he does well and makesanother 5 million with it. His reward is simple: “Enter into thejoy of the Master.”

The second man doeslikewise and is given the same reward.

But the third man doesnothing with the money except explain to the master that he has keptit safe.

The third man merelyplayed it safe.

Do we do that?

One of my Bibleprofessors cautioned us to not read too much into a parable. He said:“a parable is meant to teach one point and you cannot take all thesituations out of a parable and use it do define a whole bunch oftheology.”

For example, the masterin this parable is reported as being shady, or unethical. But thatdoesn't mean that God does unethical business deals.

The point of thisparable is that God has gifted every believer and He expects us to beusing our gifts and talents when He returns.

The warning is that toomany believers merely “play it safe.”

There are threepossible ways that the man tried to excuse himself from using histalents. The first is, he wanted to play it safe.

This third man says tohimself “the master is wicked and evil, he isn't fair, and if Imess up, he is really going to get me.”

Now the other two mendon't say that about the master.

But the servant tellsthe master that the master is not to be trusted. That is a pretty biginsult to a man who has trusted you with over a million dollars worthof gold. So, he played it safe.

That is one of theexcuses that we use to justify not using our talents. How many timesdo we say to ourselves, “what if we mess up? I don't want tomis-represent God.”

And it is true, God ismisrepresented every day. If one watches many of the televangelists,one would come to the false belief that the goal of salvation is toget rich, to obtain health, to have an easy life, that God is somesort of genie in a bottle or that God cares more for us, in the USthan He does for people in Mexico, Palestine, Iran, Russia oranywhere that is not here.

We don't want to beguilty of mis-representing God. So we bury out talent.

This parable isn'tabout the fairness of God. This parable is about us using our giftsfor the glory of God.

I used to wonder aboutthe metaphor of the one who had much was given more, and the one whohad little had even that taken away from him.

Did that mean thatsomehow in a Christian, or Biblical economy that the rich are indeedallowed to get richer while the poor get poorer?

That certainly isn'tdemocratic. The social contract of our democracy is a level playingfield with laws that ensure everyone has an equal and fair chance.

And we know fromhundreds of passages of scripture that God is on the side of the poorand the oppressed.

One might wonder of theman with the one talent thought to himself “the master thinks lessof me than ol' Fred over there, I'll mess it up. I'll play it safeand bury my talent.”

The second possibleexcuse people use is that the job should go to someone who is betterqualified.

Have you ever said toyourself: “let someone else do it, they are much more gifted thanme!” Let the preacher do it, he is trained for this kind of work.Let someone else go visit that person who is suffering, I am afraid,or embarrassed in the place of someone else's pain.

Listen, there is alwaysgoing to be somebody with more talent than you, and there is alwaysgoing to be somebody with less talent than you.

Our Christian lifeisn't measured by our successes compared to others, God wants us tobe faithful with what He has given us.

Don't worry about howwell, or how poorly someone else is doing. They have to answer to Godfor themselves. If you can encourage, even provoke them to goodworks, then so be it. But comparing ourselves with others never getsus anywhere.

There is a terriblewarning in this passage: If we bury our talents, there isn't going tobe a good enough excuse.

When God gave talentsto us, He believed in us.

If the talent wasindeed gold, the man with the one talent still had 1.3 milliondollars worth to invest.

That isn't chumpchange.

It wasn't that themaster didn't believe in this man.

God believes in you aswell. After all, He is the one who gives the gifts.

With many gifts andtalents, or with a few, God believes in you.

God has investedHimself in you.

The biggest reason, theone specifically spelled out in the parable is the tendency we haveto be selfish and lazy.

The one with only onetalent used this as his excuse: “I was afraid...”

And that excuse didn'tand won't cut it with God.

Remember, there arethree main sins in the Old Testament. 1), Idolatry. 2). Lack ofconcern for the poor and 3). a refusal to trust God at His word.

He used the excuse: “Iwas afraid.”

But what was themaster's response?

You are wicked andlazy.

You know, I find thatexcuse: “I am afraid” as a cover up for, either the form ofwickedness that says: “I can't be bothered. If I use my talents,for God, then it is less time for me. I think I am going to use mytalents for me and for my pleasure.”

And that, dear brothersand sisters, is wickedness.

When God blessedAbraham and told him he would have so many descendants they couldn'tbe counted and that he would make him wealthy God said, I will blessyou so that you can be a blessing to the rest of the world. (Genesis12:1-2)

God gives us talents,abilities, gifts, children and even money and financial blessings sothat we can bless others. Remember, it belongs to God, not us.

To use our gifts,talents, blessings, money for self interest is wickedness.

Theonewithonetalentwasafraid.Butthemastercallshimwickedandlazy.

The second aspect ofthe condemnation is laziness.

Maybe the one with onlyone talent justified his laziness by calling the master wicked andunfair.

That goes on a lot whensomeone has to work for someone else, so instead of giving theiremployer an honest day's work, they slack off.

But here is the thing.It is God we are working for, not some imperfect human being.

And the thing is this,even the smallest gift is a treasure.

I believe that the twofaithful stewards had fun, or at least a sense of reward, when theytook a risk instead of playing it safe and invested God's talents.

This treasure we haveisn't mere money, gold or silver. This treasure we have comesdirectly from God, by His Holy Spirit.

When we use ourtalents, we enjoy the reward of being partners with God.

You cannot outgive God.You cannot exhaust the gift inside of you.

If you stop playing itsafe, I promise you that you will find a great adventure, workingwith God, doing His kingdom business.

You will live a lifethat makes a difference.