God’s Word Revealed

Sermon Acts 8:26-40 April 29, 2018 Easter 5B

God’s Word Revealed

Today’s story offers us an example of how taking a risk with someone new leads to great joy. It is one of those stories that reminds us not to hesitate or resist those nudges that put us in the face of someone else. It is a story that takes us by the hand and shows us the way of the power of God to lead, to transform, and to send.

In the 8^th chapter of Acts we learn about the Ethiopian who left his country to travel to Jerusalem to worship God. I was curious where Ethiopia was in relation to Jerusalem. I Googled it. And I supposed if he came from one of the most northern cities, perhaps Mekele, Ethiopia, he would have traveled 2400 miles to get to Jerusalem. He would have traveled over land and then by ferry to cross the narrow portion of the Red Sea and continue on to Jerusalem. We don’t know if it was his first trip or if he had made the journey several times before. We do know he was a man of wealth and status. As part of the Queen’s staff, he was able to travel first class in a chariot. It is also interesting that he was able to take the time necessary to make a pilgrimage to the land of his faith. There is a long and beautiful history of the Ethiopian Jews dating back to King Solomon and Queen Sheba. They are known as the Beta Israel Community.  

The Ethiopian man was on his way home, studying the texts of the prophet Isaiah, when he encountered Philip. It was the power of God that nudged or perhaps shoved Philip over to the chariot to encounter this man. I’m sure that there was no other way that Philip would have walked up to a complete stranger who was a foreigner, another color, and considered an outcast in the Jewish faith. Philip, being a man of modest income himself, was not in the habit of walking up to wealthy chariots to talk to rich people. Besides, the person in the chariot might mistake him for a beggar asking for money.

But, that Spirit nudge, put him in contact with the chariot. When Philip saw the man reading the Bible his question wasn’t if he could read, but did he understand the context of what he was reading. Philip recognized this moment as an opportunity to share his new faith, his transformed way of understanding God’s Word revealed through Jesus Christ.

The man responded to Philip, “how can anyone understand anything without guidance?” And, this is one of the key portions of this story. How do we understand anything without guidance? We cannot live our lives in a vacuum. Even if we have been taught everything we think we need for life-reading, writing, and arithmetic-we are still humans in need of guidance.

  All of our life we are in need of guidance. Perhaps, that is what drives us crazy. We think we will eventually reach an age where we won’t be dependent on anyone else for anything. Yet, we still need guidance in our lives for our health, for our financial future, for our life changing decisions, for our retirement, and even for our end of life choices. We need guidance from people we can trust. In this story we discover this strong and wealthy Ethiopian recognizes his need for guidance.

He was searching the Scriptures to seek understanding of God’s Word to shape his life. How is God’s Word shaping our life and our thoughts? How do we engage with God’s Word and not feel intimidated by it? How do we pick a place to start to read it and not get lost?

There, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, this man was seeking understanding about God’s salvation as described through the suffering servant. He wanted to understand what he was reading. He wanted to understand the God he believed in and worshiped. He wanted to know more.

Do we want to know more? Are we satisfied with our understand of the God we believe in? What do we understand about the God’s Word revealed?

God calls us into a life of faith even if we haven’t called on God. God created us, loves us, claims us, and therefore would not dare abandon us. God seeks us out through a variety of means; through the voices and guidance of others. God wants us to gather and learn together. God wants us to offer ourselves to others as they offer themselves to us. God call us into a life of faith in community.

Perhaps, that is the second most important part of this story. 1. We notice the nudges of the Spirit. 2. We respond by offering guidance within the context of relationship.

Our faith in God is not practiced, sustained, or enhanced by sitting at home. It is not a faith of individuality. It is a faith of covenant and community. How we live together is as much a testimony of our faith as the words that come out of our mouth. The phrase, “Do what I say, not what I do” would not fly with Jesus. Remember, Jesus said, “As you have done it unto the least of these you have done it unto me.” We have the chance to practice what it means to be people of faith guiding one another to understand the Word revealed in our lives and then share it with others. We have the chance to spend time together to learn, to grow, to appreciate the precious gifts we have and how they enhance our journey.

Community is a place where one can safely ask any question they want. Community is a place where one can look to another and ask them for guidance. Community is a place where, ‘the priesthood of all believers’ is practiced. Community is a place where each person is valued for who they are.

Community is a place where no one has to pretend.

The only barriers to faith are the human constructed ones.

This wonderful Ethiopian looked at Philip and asked what obstacles there were to being baptized. What hoops would he have to jump through to be part of this Jesus group?

He was not welcome in the fullness of the Temple because he was not considered a complete human being-just as women were not permitted to enter, or those with disabilities. This man of color and a eunuch put him on the outside edge of the Temple. All these wonderful people were left on the fringes of the community of faith and never had a chance to enter through its doors.

Philip doesn’t hesitate. I am always reminded of this story whenever my denominational robes get in the way of the power of the Spirit. Philip did not hesitate to respond to this man’s request for baptism.

Our final lesson from this story is that there are no barriers to God’s Word revealed in Jesus Christ.

There are no barriers to the request for baptism.

There are no barriers to salvation.

God arrives in our lives through the presence of others, reveals salvation through the blessing of the community, douses us with baptismal waters, and sends us on our way rejoicing.

Let us take the risk of love. Amen.

Resources: NIB Acts

Dramatic Crops!

Sermon Mark 4:1-10; 14-20 April 22, 2018 Earth Day Dramatic Reading of the Sower and the Seed.

Dramatic Crops!

Please take a moment and thank the youth choir for bringing the Word of God to you through dramatic interpretation.

One thing that has always surprised me when I’ve read or listened to this parable from Jesus, is how entertaining it is. It is dramatic. It is understandable. It is always intriguing.

I’ve recently been wondering about the predicament the seed faces as it lands on a variety of soils, rocks, and harsh conditions. Perhaps, the variety of conditions that seed falls to are about the variety of circumstances all humans encounter in their journey of faith.  

Jesus is telling the listeners of this parable about the ways the Good News of God is received. Think about your faith journey for a moment. Is it possible to relate to each of these ‘soil’ situations?

I can guess that those wonderful seeds of good news have fallen on the path, the rocks, among the weeds and on fertile soil in the measure of one day of my life.

Jesus said the seed fallen on the path has no chance because evil snatched it up.

There are times when we hear God’s Word but it goes in one ear and out the other. We would rather get caught up in gossip, or name calling, than obey the voice of good news. We would rather steal joy from someone else by acting out or screaming or cursing or losing control of the faith God has put in us-in those moments-evil has snatched us up as a bird snatches seed from the path.  

No matter how mercy filled the Good News of God is as it comes to us, we are unable to open up to it, and we miss the blessing God has for us. Living in integrity that means so much to us has been stolen so quickly.

Betraying behavior, bullying, and dishonesty don’t just seep into our lives it enters so quickly we are almost unaware that who we are as a child of God in those moments is about to be stolen away. Evil has acted and we are taken by surprise.

Jesus said the seed that fell on rocky soil hears God’s Word is filled with joy but then shrivels under pressure.

There are times when we are filled with the joy and wonder and delight of the good news of God. But, disaster strikes us. Illness comes upon us. Friends die. Tornadoes destroy homes. We fail exams. We lose our jobs. We don’t have enough money. Divorce happens. School shootings happen. Factories shut down. Car accidents happen. It as if the bad things are beating down anything that could be good news and all the joy of God is shriveled up in us and we cannot find a way to respond with our faith.

It can be so hard to when we seek to share joy and all around us is dismal moments. These, I believe are the most challenging times. The troubles of the world and of our lives would crush our faith if we allow them to. We know however, the wonder and joy of the continuous presence of God is strong and powerful within us to create the resilience to endure and overcome. Faith expressing itself through love brings us through. The only thing that counts is faith working through love. Galatians 5:6

The seeds falling among the thorns is probably the easiest of our moments to recognize. The times our ambition took the front seat pushing aside any good will, or grace in relationships. When our desire for success caused us to drop our lifelong friends in order to be with the cool crowd. Even in retirement we can let the thorns take hold of our faith. We can become so obsessed with our earnings and our financial outcomes that we lose sight of the power of God to sustain us through all times. We find ourselves choked of any joy of good news of God because we miser our time and talents for fear of losing them. Yet. Jesus is the one who has offered us incredible promises of talents in abundance as long as we use them.

Finally, the seed that falls among fertile soil can only grow and be fruitful. When our lives are filled with the presence of God. When every breath we take is aware of the beautiful, the noble, and the sacred, we learn happiness and discover creativity and joy.

Do we take time to be aware of what surrounds us each day? Do we have time for any of these in the seconds of our days? 

How will you honor the Creation and the earth we have around  us? Take ten seconds, I’ll watch the time.

Go, with good news and scatter the seeds everywhere. Amen.

Resources: NIB Mark. 

Risen Indeed

Sermon Mark 16:1-8 April 1, 2018 Easter

Risen Indeed

Everything in the gospel of Mark happens in real time. Have you noticed that as you’ve read it? It’s as if we are there with the women going to the tomb. Listen to their worries. ‘Mary do you have the spices?’ ‘Yes, I do Salome-we bought them together.’ ‘They got up early to buy what they needed before they went to the tomb. The stores weren’t open the day before but on the first day of the week, the day after the Sabbath, they could go and buy what they needed.

With their arms full of sweet smells, they go to the tomb. They go with only one expectation- to anoint the body of Jesus.

They know he is dead.

They sat at the foot of his cross and watched him die. There is no denying his death. They went along with Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea as they took the body of Jesus and laid him in the tomb. They saw exactly where he was laid. Then they watched as the Roman guards came and rolled the stone in place. They watched from a distance. They looked at the size of the stone and at the guard standing in front of it. Puzzled about the need to guard the dead, they went home. They went together, the women. It would be up to them to care for the body of Jesus. A task handed down to the women from their mothers and their mothers before them. It wasn’t a duty of dread. It was a gift and an honor to be the one to bring dignity and honor to the bodies of their loved ones even as they fade away to the dust.

The women are going to the tomb and as they go they look at each and ask the next real time question-‘who is going to roll away the stone?’

Everything about these wonderful women reminds of us of our real time questions. It reminds us of our real time needs. It keeps our reality real. We don’t go through our day expecting the unexpected. We don’t go through our day waiting for the next shoe to drop. We don’t go through our day with the anticipation of another April Fool joke-ok, maybe just today. These women remind us that we all live our lives in real time and that’s okay! We live out lives in the ordinary. We live our lives going through the joys and the sorrows of the day. We get up, drink our coffee, get the kids to school, read the paper, go to work, make our list of chores to do, visit friends, write emails, and perhaps make a few plans for the future. We live in the ordinary just as these women did and that is just what God wants from us as followers of Jesus.

Because, it is in the ordinary that God shows up. It is in the ordinary where miracles happen. It is in the ordinary where God is revealed. And when we get to the place where we are in the face of the unexpected, we hear God’s words, ‘Do not be afraid.’

Jesus is not where we expect him to be. And that hasn’t changed from the day the women found the tomb empty. The unexpected is that Jesus is alive. The unexpected is that Jesus is NOT dead.

The unexpected is that God’s promises are true.

And when we like these women find out that Jesus is not where we expect him to be-we too can be upset, fearful, amazed, and just a little terrified.

Why?

Because on that day of resurrection God made it known that God will not be contained in a box or in any human expectation.

God is on the loose-look out!

Jesus is alive!

Jesus has gone before us to Galilee and expects us to follow him. Do not be afraid.

The women are so afraid and so amazed by what they see and hear they run away. And isn’t that also comforting. God’s revelation can be very unsettling. The promise of God can be nerve-wracking.  Imagine how Abraham and Sarah must have felt-you’re going to have a baby-and Sarah laughed-yeah, sure God in my old age. And yet, God fulfilled that promise even in the fear and in the amazement of those two.

Faith seems to show up when we are afraid. We are gripped by fear in the unexpected and yet, God shows up and holds us and gives us strength.

Jesus has gone ahead of us to Galilee. Galilee is where Jesus healed the sick, gathered the children, raised people from the dead, taught on the hillside. We do not know Galilee will be for us, but we know that Jesus is going ahead of us to prepare the way. So we can ‘go and tell’ and not be afraid.

It is Easter! We can rejoice! Do not be afraid. He is not here. But go! Tell! In real time we can believe, we can trust, we can have faith, and we can go! Alleluia, Alleluia, give thanks to the risen Lord, Alleluia, Alleluia, give praise to his name! Amen.