Sleeps in a Storm

Sermon Philippians 4:1-8; 13 February 23, 2020 Final sermon of 7 week series

Sleeps in a Storm

We begin today with:

A Poem

God provides, We prepare

Storms prevail, We persevere

Fear pervades, We pray

God’s peace guards, We praise.

A song

In the Lord I’ll be ever thankful, in the Lord I will rejoice, look to God, do not be afraid, lift up your voices, the Lord is near.

Poems and songs have a way of speaking words we cannot express ourselves. We look to them as we think of others. We look to them to nourish our souls and strengthen our reserves.

We peruse the card aisle at the drugstore looking for just the right words to express to one another how we feel. It’s hard at times to find the right words. It’s hard at times to offer thanks, or condolences, or even words of joy for birthdays and anniversaries. We often say to ourselves as we send a card that this is the next best thing to being there with our friend or loved one. We send ourselves in the folds of the card and the snug of the envelope.

Letters can do that too. Letters of our own scribing, of our own creative crafting, can provide insight to the reader about who we are and how we are. They share news and elements of information important to our well being and the wellbeing of the reader.

We have this gift of written letters within our grasp. Letters that are love letters to churches. Letters that are instructions and how-to manuals. Letters that are admonishments. Letters that are encouragements. Right here within the binding of our Bibles are letters written to us. They still speak to the church today.  

“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord.” These words still ring true to our desiring hearts. We long to be called brothers and sisters. We long to be called loved and joy. And when we hear the reader in the pulpit read these words, it’s as if Paul is talking straight to us today.

Watching the history channel’s miniseries this week about George Washington reminded me of how we know him because of the letters he wrote. We hear his letters being read and it’s as if we really know the wonder of this amazing man. Our relationship with this forefather of our country is fresh and new and revived by the sounds of his words as they are read from his letters.

When we receive a card from someone, we read it based on our relationship with the person who sent it.

Paul’s letters are written to the churches from his relationship with them. He truly loved the church at Philippi. His partnership with them for the sake of the gospel, the word of Jesus Christ, was very deep. He trusted them. He relied on them. He was in prison and so he needed them to carry on their partnership even though he was not physically with them.

Today we have many means of being able to be face to face with someone even though we are absent in body. Facetime, Whatsapp, Discord, Skype, are all means of breaking through the distance and challenge of being fully present with someone. We have this amazing tool to use. How have we utilized it? Do we reach out to family and show off how much we’ve grown? Do we reach out to old friends and look for the expressions on their faces? Do we use it for work so that we don’t get lost in translation of our written text messages? I wonder how Paul’s letters from prison to the churches would be different with this 21^st century technology? Would he have been able to convey the same picture words to help the church know about the power of God for them?

As you go home today and read your Bible, ask yourself as you open up the letters-the epistles, who is writing and who is reading? What was going on in the lives of the people? Is there anything in your life that you might be experiencing the same as these early Christians? Imagine yourself sitting with this letter as if it was written just for you. And let the Spirit move within you to discover the richness God has for you in the reading of this Word.

Today’s portion of the letter we read has a special message-it actually has a few.

Here are a few take aways to hang on to.

1.      God’s peace will stand guard as one who sleeps in a storm

2.     Reconcile with one another; heal one another in times of need

3.     In the Lord we can be ever thankful for he is near.

One.  God’s peace will stand guard as one who sleeps in a storm. In verse seven Paul states. “the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” After all that has been said Paul makes it clear that God is in charge. God will stand as a sentry for your hearts and minds if you allow it to happen. Imagine the security and sense of confidence we could have if we really believed that God was standing watch over us to protect our hearts and our minds. Paul must have been thinking back to the time Jesus slept through the storm with his disciples.

George Heinrichs shared a story from a sermon he heard in 1975. It does us well to hear this today. You can find it in our devotional guide if you want a copy.

The story goes like this: A man seeks employment on a farm. He hands his letter of recommendation to his new employer. It reads simply, “sleeps in a storm.” The owner is desperate for help, so he hires the man. Several weeks pass, and suddenly, in the middle of the night, a powerful storm rips through the valley. Awakened by the swirling rain and howling wind, the owner leaps out of bed. He calls for his new hired hand, but the man is sleeping soundly. So he dashes off to the barn. He sees, to his amazement, that the animals are secure with plenty of feed. He runs out to the field. He sees the bales of wheat have been bound and are wrapped tarpaulins. He races to the silo. The doors are latched and the grain is dry. And then he understands. “Sleeps in a storm.”

What have we been so anxious about that we have refused to allow God to stand guard? Have been so unwilling to trust God with our intimate desires or heartaches that we cannot turn it over to the one who sleeps next to us in a storm?

If a sailor or a farmer cannot trust the ones who work alongside them, then they will never sleep, they will always be afraid of what will go wrong.

God promises to be there for us in all kinds of circumstances.

Which is why Paul also says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

This is our chance to let go of our pragmatism that gets in the way of God’s miracles. If we are faithful, if we are willing to believe that our citizenship is in heaven and that we are expecting a Savior who will transform us in glory, then perhaps we can trust God to take our fear.

Perhaps, we can know that we have done all we can to be faithful. We can go to sleep knowing that God is on duty.

Do not be afraid.

Stand firm.

Be at peace.

Two. Reconcile with one another; heal one another in times of need. Paul is confident enough in his relationship with the church that he can add a little admonishment and make a request of the community.

We have been given this precious nugget from Paul in the middle of the letter to let the readers know that Christians have challenges. We have this little nugget to know that all situations within the church and in the life of Christians are publicly addressed. What a blessing this is for us as we read this. We can be assured that we too have an example to look to on how to handle the tough times.

Two of his leaders have been in a squabble.

It’s so hard when friends and people who are working hard together end up in a disagreement. ‘Nothings’ worse than two church ladies fighting in the kitchen.’

Paul asks the church, the community of faith, to rally around the women Euodia and Syntyche and help them reconcile. Paul has so much faith in the strength of the community.

He trusts them to reach out and embrace those who are in discord.

It is encouraging to know the congregation of Philippi can hear Paul’s words and act on them.

They are able to allow the love of Christ to do a mighty work within the strains of relationships.

If we are all aware of how short our time is with one another, we would put our relationship, the love we have, the bonds of time and experience at all costs above any disagreement that would seek to tear us apart.

These words from Paul mean so much because relationships are hard work.

And just because we are Christians doesn’t mean we are perfect in how we get along with ourselves and others. Paul is saying in the letter, ‘stop thinking the Christian label is the label of perfection’.

The only perfection is in Christ Jesus.

His love, grace, forgiveness is what heals and makes whole. Discord happens anywhere and everywhere.

As believers, we can learn to offer Christ’s love, grace, and forgiveness to heal wounds and heal a whole community. Christ went to the cross for us, the least we can do is offer or receive forgiveness from a brother or sister. That’s how the church lives and thrives.

Three. In the Lord we can be ever thankful, for he is near.

Gratitude is life giving.

With thanks, we release all that’s negative in our life and receive endorphins that energize and bring health.

Many people have been encouraged by keeping a gratitude journal. They begin or end each day writing the things they are thankful for. In it they recognize the positive possibilities for approaching each day. Even in the worst of times people have told me how the gratitude journal kept them grounded, anchored, rooted in the life that mattered.

When loss, sadness, anger, frustration, anxiety, and/or fear seek to take over our souls, a single fresh breath of thanksgiving can cleanse the palate and bring a new flavor for the day.

Paul reminds the church to rejoice, and rejoice again, and always.

Do not give up rejoicing!

He is so confident that as we offer our requests and our thanksgiving to God we, the church, can be freed of all our fears and anxieties. He is convinced that God is near, and in that assurance we can rejoice.

The promise of Christ’s return is the hope to which we are grounded. It is a sure and certain hope.

The nearness of Christ is how the church continues from generation to generation. It is how we remain thankful, live our lives, and rejoice.

Our houses might be a mess, our mortgage might be late, our electricity might be close 

to being turned off; but, somehow, someway, we can be at peace, we can sleep in this storm. Perhaps, that’s it…the paradox, the truth.

Let our reference letters say, ‘sleeps in a storm’.

In the Lord I’ll be ever thankful, in the Lord I will rejoice, look to God, do not be afraid, lift up your voices, the Lord is near.

Take the letters written within the bindings of your Bible and read what the Spirit has for you today.

Amen.

Angels Sing in the Wind

Sermon Hebrews 11:1-3; 8-10; 39-12:3 February 16, 2020

Angels Sing in the Wind

‘Sometimes angels sing to you in the wind, all you have to do is listen.’ 

This was the quote written on a tag attached to a homemade silver angel. It was a gift given to me, to us, before we left on our voyage. It was a precious gift given by a woman of wisdom; a woman who knows the hearts of people; a woman who knows the power of words and the power of the mystery of God, a woman who is near and dear to me, close to my heart. 

She shared this gift in the hopes it would be a reminder for me to sit still with God as we crossed the waters. 

She shared it with me in the hopes that I would seek to recognize the sound of God around me; 

that I would hear God’s voice and listen for all God has for me.

The letter to the Hebrews draws our attention to the cloud of witnesses, 

the ancient faith pillars that gather around the current community of faith. 

They are there as a testimony of faith. 

They are there as a witness to what has gone before so we can hear their stories. 

They are there with voices to be heard. 

They are there with wisdom to share. 

They are there whistling in the wind. 

All we have to do is listen.

All of the persons mentioned in the eleventh chapter demonstrate the power of God living the endurance of faith. They are the forerunners to our faith. They are the testimony to which we receive encouragement and courage to continue to live lives of faith, to endure the hardships that come our way, and to become the pillars of faith for future generations.

In this letter the connection of the past is brought forward into the present so it will continue into the future.

Why? Why does the past matter? 

Who cares about the way things were done? 

What difference do these old geezers make to what’s happening around us today?

In a world today where we receive over six thousand messages a day, the information line of what’s relevant is blurred. We can type into google search, or ask Alexa, or speak to Echo our questions and in return we get perfect and precise answers. Scripture loses its place in the information highway. Its wisdom as a guide for life is lost since it is not included in the search data available to google, or amazon for fear of offending those who do not practice a life of faith. If you don’t believe me do a search for religious emojis, they don’t exist or they are hard to find. We have done a lot to remove religion from our overall way of living.

With these marvelous technologies, a sense of value of those who have gone before fades into oblivion. It becomes the end of words, the end of time, it is chaos. 

Yeats wrote a poem called ‘the Second Coming’ in 1919-the year after the end of WWI. 

He felt the world of civil communication was coming to an end. 

He felt the modern world of that time had come to a crisis where speaking and hearing had been lost. 

He was not only living the time of the crisis of WWI but also the horror of the Bolshevik Revolution and the troubles of Ireland. 

It seems that all times of history have been the end of times. 

Because here we are in 2020 and it seems nothing has changed. 

It still feels like the end times, the end of words, the time of chaos.

And that’s why turning to the past is important.

The past reveals several things for us. 

It reveals the constant rebellion, resistance, and retaliation of humanity with one another. Wars have always been fought over land and bread. 

There has never been a time of peace. 

In a biblical sense we have always been living out the eschatological end times. 

Every generation has looked to the current times and wondered if this was the time of the return of Christ and prayed the words, ‘come Lord Jesus, come.’ 

We have the opportunity to look to our past with a choice of lenses. 

We could take the time to look to the past as a time of tragedy. A time where all we witnessed was turmoil, chaos, torture, and death. 

Or we could also look to that time as a time of triumph, resilience, endurance, strength, courage, and overcoming, even in the face of death.

The letter to the Hebrews offers the early Christians a sense of strength in community through the stories of faith of their ancestors. 

Abraham was not only a man of faith but also a man whom God entrusted the                        future of all generations. 

To Abraham was promised a nation; a community  of people of faith. 

God trusted that Abraham would have the faith, the hope, to carry the                             knowledge of God into eternity. 

The community of God was born in Abraham’s obedience to follow God into a place of uncertainty. 

Our salvation history is drawn from those who chose to follow a God they didn’t know before into a place they didn’t know and to be confident with the presence of God who had just been revealed. 

If they could respond in faith like that, then maybe we can too.

That’s why we look back.

Not to pine away at what we don’t have. 

But we look back to witness what was there to give us courage to go forward. 

Faith is more than hope in this letter. 

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

Faith is tenacious, it is not coerced, it is courageous, it is salvific, it is life.

From these pillars described for us in chapter eleven we have a profile of what a forefather looks and acts like. We have an example and a standard to use for ourselves and to teach our children.

How many of us have entered our DNA into the 23 and Me or Ancestry.com for                      analysis? Why have we done that? Because we want to learn a little bit about                        ourselves through the stories of our family history. We have a sense that we will                    discover things that will help us understand who we are. We have an idea that                      this organization of our ancestors into a data program will help to tell the story to                    our children so they will be encouraged and excited to know that these people                        are part of their story. It’s exciting to watch people interested in the family stories                    that made a difference.

In the church we keep the stories of those who have gone before us in our church minutes, in our church history, in our church plaques, in our photo archives, and memorials. 

We won’t know who we are if we don’t keep and tell their stories year after year. 

We are still here because of them. We hope the next generation will be here because of us.

Let’s pause for a moment and think of the names of people who have been part of this congregation over the past generations. 

Who were they? 

How do we remember them? 

What makes us smile when we think of them. 

What makes us laugh? 

What makes us cringe? 

And what makes us want to be like them? 

They are the Abrahams and Sarahs of our past. 

You are the Abrahams and Sarahs of our future. 

How will your faith story play out?

I’ll share with you what I wrote about how the people of the past influenced me on our voyage:

Today, December 23, we are in safe harbor. Choosing once again to listen to the wisdom of the voices in the wind. I'm not sure if the voices were the angels or the voices of the saints who have gone before us. But the wisdom was there whistling through the wind sometimes loud and shouting and sometimes subtle and quiet. I had the comfort every night on my watch of watching the constellation Orion rise and maintain our stern. And our bow was guided boldly by the planet Jupiter. I spoke to my dad every night as I looked at Orion and asked him to do his best to keep us safe. I often heard (very often) Tony's (my step-dad) words of safety as we traveled. Tony was so interested in every part of our planning of our trip. Tony questioned every detail, making sure we knew what decision we were making was a sound one. He pulled out the Atlas often going over our route and making recommendations. Tony cheered us on in his own special way by worrying about us. Even in his last months of life he reminded us to be safe as we made the Atlantic crossing.
​We miss him, my dad, Mike's mom, and all our precious family and friends who have gone before us. Perhaps, that's why we heard angels and saints singing to us in the wind guiding us to our safe haven.

We are so glad we listened to them.
We are much better because of them. 

Our community of faith is a powerful place full of amazing saints. 

Let’s honor them today as we sing and pray. 

Let’s go from here today and choose to look to the future with the strength and courage of the past. 

Let us sit still with God. 

Let us seek to recognize the sound of God around us. 

Let us hear God’s voice and listen for all God has for us.

Let us look to Jesus as our perfecter of our faith and run the race set before us. 

For we, dear friends, are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses! 

Amen.

Resources: Hebrews-Fred Craddock- NIB Abingdon Press Volume X; 

Be Strong and Bold

Sermon Deuteronomy 31:1-8 February 9, 2020

Be Strong and Bold

I have a dream.

I have a dream, is a speech written and spoken by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. in 1963.

Portions of that speech have been repeated many times since. It was a speech that turned the tables of history. It was a speech considered strong and bold.

Once a year in schools across America, Black History is celebrated. It is a reminder that there was a time in our history that we did not celebrate any accomplishments of minorities in this nation. 

As people of God we preach and teach that we are all God’s children. In the Christian church we teach and preach that Jesus loves us. He loves all, not a few, not just the cute ones, or just the blond ones, or just the ones with dimples.

Jesus loves everyone, he came to save the world.

 As people of God we live in the world. We are not isolated from the events that surround us. The news of this week and next week affect us. The news sometimes rocks us to our core, our faith is rattled. At other times the news lifts us high and we rejoice in our freedoms and successes.

In the church, we often celebrate the joys of our religious freedoms by sharing in Thanksgiving worship. We celebrate our religious freedoms by offering hymns of national significance such as ‘My Country Tis of Thee’ on Sundays prior to our holiday of national independence. We celebrate our youth in faith by observing Scout Sunday.

There are times in our world history and our nation’s history that are so intertwined with our faith story that to not mention them as we seek God in worship is perhaps an injustice itself. We celebrate the joys of victory such as the end of WWII and we pray with gratitude at the end of other wars, whether they were won or not. Veteran’s Day is important to us. As preachers, these are great honors to lift up those who have sacrificed and those who have lived their lives for the sake of freedom.

We gathered as a nation in worship in times of great tragedy, at Pearl Harbor, the explosion of the shuttle Challenger, the fall of the Twin Towers of 9/11. We gathered to offer hope, in a world where hope escapes us. We gathered to unite over a grief that gripped us all.

There have also been many times in our Christian history where preachers preached, proclaimed from pulpits all across the globe messages just to maintain the social and political status quo. There were many times when the messages preached were in favor of the cultural injustice taking place within inches of the church doors or even from within them. 

There were many times when the Christian message preached was in direct violation of the message of Jesus.

Can we think of those times and name them?

There are very few who would or will speak out against injustice. There are very few who can afford the risk of stepping into the Lion’s den not knowing if God will close the mouths of the lions or if it will be the day they will be devoured. There are very few who can speak out against injustice and still be favored among one’s own people. When we consider Jesus and the prophets before him, we realize speaking the truth comes at the price of death. It happened to Martin Luther King Jr. It happened to Bonhoeffer. It happened to many a priest in South America. It happened in Rawanda. It happened. It happened…

What was it that happened in the hearts of our ancestors when they chose to rebel against the king of England? 

What was it that happened in the hearts of the slave traders to say, enough, this is wrong? 

What was it that happened in the hearts of people in America who declared women should have the right to vote? 

What was it that happened in the hearts of those in America to say segregation was an injustice? 

What was it that happened in the hearts to those seeking reform of many laws in this nation? 

Was it that only they were correct? 

Only they were thinking clearly; only they had their hearts right with God? 

If that’s true then, in the annals of history, are we to look on those of opposing views as the enemy, the ones with evil in their heart? 

How do we think about our ancestors who fought for the south or the north in the Civil War? 

How do we view those who fought for Hitler? 

How do we view those who fought for prohibition? 

How do we view those who fought for the King of England during the Revolution?

If the wrong had been so easily seen, 

wouldn’t all have tried to do 

what history has deemed right?

                                                If that could only be true. 

But, it’s not. 

It takes a lot to change the human condition.

There was a time that electricity was considered the work of the devil. There was a time that reading books other than the bible was the way to hell. There was a time when it was against the rules for girls to wear anything but dresses. There was a time when it was illegal for women to vote. The reason being that women didn’t have the rational thinking capabilities to cast a valid vote.

Where are we today in America in our human condition?

Are we to the point that anyone who opposes our ideas is of the devil? Are we really evil if we don’t agree? Is our thinking rational or irrational? Do we really cast hate across social and political and religious lines? Are we going to attack those who, because of what was happening in their heart, stood up and gave a different view of our own? Do we really wish to ruin the lives of our friends, families, and neighbors over differing ideals?

Are all of our thoughts and ideals only true in one direction? Is Jesus really only on MY side?

Friends and pastors, we have a responsibility to proclaim the gospel message of JESUS. We have a responsibility to speak HIS Truth.

And how does HIS Truth fit into the way we are behaving as a nation, as a people of God?

Perhaps its time to learn a little bit about our God from the Old Testament.

The last two chapters of Deuteronomy speak to a nation about to be born.

Perhaps these chapters are a good place for us to return to learn a little bit about our God.

Often the end of the story provides the full meaning of the story. The end of Deuteronomy is not just the end of this book of the Torah but it is the fullness of the whole five books of the Torah, the Pentateuch, our first five books of our Bible.

It is the summary of the meaning of the people of God.

It is their story.

It is our story.

Two things come to me from the movement of the people of God into the Land of Promise. (By the way it is the Land of Promise-not the Promised Land. The difference is one is theological and the other geographical-a sermon for another day).

First-the people will decide who they will be as a nation by the choices they make.

Second-the people will determine how they will be as people of God by their behavior.

These last two chapters of Deuteronomy deal with the transition of a desert people wandering lost and waiting, to a people with a purpose to fulfill.

“The Torah, (William Moran) does not just simply recount history, it opens up a path for each new generation.” This ending, this standing at the threshold of the Promise, is the critical plumb line for the future-the beginning of this Hebrew nation and for all nations. To return to the threshold of a new beginning provides the promise of how it began. It becomes the place of return every time a judgment needs to be made. It’s the place of return every time a purpose needs reevaluating. This final message of Moses holds all things in the balance for future generations.

What choices are the people making for the nation; and how are the people of God behaving?

God reminds the people and us as we look back to the text, that GOD is ALWAYS with us.

It might seem like the end because Moses is saying goodbye.

It might seem like the end because the desert-the familiar-is no longer home.

It might seem like the end because what lies ahead is new and scary and different.

But, God reminds us as we look back at the people standing at the threshold,

that we too have a future.

It’s up to us to decide how it will be.

Moses encourages Joshua to be strong and bold.

He encourages him to go forth and lead the people to build a new nation.

This is not a time for timidity.

It requires Joshua to live into his calling, his commission.

He cannot doubt the position God has given him through the words of Moses. 

What will matter for the future of the nation of the people entering into the Land of Promise is whether or not they too will be bold and strong.

It will matter if they will obey the Torah, the commandments of God as they settle in the land. There is a clear purpose for them in the uncharted territory ahead.

Arrogant pride or paralyzing anxiety have no place in the future of the people.

How that future unfolds will be determined by the choices the people make and the attitude in which they carry out their calling.

The adherence to the Torah will be essential for the people as they go forward.

What happens in their hearts will be pivotal for their future.

All the prophets after Moses looked to the Torah as their source.

God’s Word given in the first five books of the Bible were the guide for faith and life until the incarnation of Jesus and continues today.

The book of Deuteronomy is the summary of the Law of God. It is the guidebook for the faithful. It is necessary for faithful living. As Christians it is essential for us to read the Torah to know our past, to understand the roots from which we came. It is essential to know who and why we are. When we read the story of the transition of life from the leadership of Moses to that of Joshua and God’s claim on the people as they go forward, we realize how God chooses us! 

God chooses a life of purpose for us. 

God chooses a life of integrity and honor. 

God chooses a home where his name can be glorified. 

God has serious goals for the future. 

The choices we make and how we behave matter!

And that is why we find ourselves in this story of Moses at the end of his life.

It is the summary of the meaning of the people of God.

It is their story.

It is our story.

Our story is open ended. We are all part of our past, our present, and our future.

Our identity is a combination of the ‘chronicle of memory and the scenario of anticipation.’

As we are sitting at the threshold of the rest of our lives, we can heed the words of Moses, be strong and bold.

We can hear the words of God, go forth.

Because we know that,

as we rest just beyond the Jordan,

we too are at the end of our wilderness

looking to the future of an adventure.

Where are we today in America in our human condition?

I would speak the words again of Martin Luther King Jr-I have a dream.

I have a dream that our voices will be strong.

I have a dream that we will no longer be timid.

I have a dream that a stirring will happen in our hearts so we will understand, care, and listen to one another.

I have a dream that there’ll be a happening in our hearts that will create a safe place for people to come together.

I have a dream that God will remove evil from our hearts and the hearts of all mankind.

I have a dream that the church will speak the truth.

I have a dream that Jesus will come again and find that we have been faithful.

I have a dream that we can live the words of Jesus, when all the world will be as one.

Friends, what will our choices and our attitude be in the days ahead? Let us be strong and bold.

May God be our wisdom. May God be our vision. Amen.