More Salt, Please

Sermon Matthew 5:13-20 February 5, 2017 Ordinary Time-communion at NMPC

More Salt, Please

As you heard in the children’s sermon, salt does a lot more than make our French fries taste great.

Salt makes colors pop, softens hide to make leather and is an essential ingredient in the production of plastics.

Now I’m sure when Jesus was sitting on the hillside sharing his thoughts with the crowd the idea of plastic toys and products was nowhere in his imagination.

But, truly salt is an essential component of life.

In the times before refrigeration salt preserved meats and lengthened the shelf life of many products.

Salt was so valuable that some people were even paid with it.

But, today, who cares about salt and light and the Law anyway?

Perhaps what’s most intriguing is that Jesus isn’t just having a nice conversation with the people on the hill to make them feel good.

His words are quite provocative.

His words were more than words of instruction;

                                                                they were and still are today a challenge, a call!

Dare we get up today and take God’s Law seriously enough that we will enact it in our every breath?

For Jesus says, “whoever does the Law and teaches others to do the same, they will be called great in heaven.”

So, then do we even know the Law to teach it?

Perhaps some of us still remember the ten commandments which we were taught in grade school Sunday school. Hmmm…let’s see if we can recite a few?

Oh yes,

1) I am the Lord thy god, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

2) Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

3) Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

4) Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

5) Honor thy father and thy mother.

6) Thou shalt not murder.

7) Thou shalt not commit adultery.

8) Thou shalt not steal.

9) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

10) Thou shalt not covet anything that belongs to thy neighbor.

These were the first ten of 613 laws of Judaism. But Jesus also said this about the commandments: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. — Matthew 22:35-40.

The easy way to remember this commandment from Jesus is to think of the cross. The cross has a vertical bar and a horizontal bar. The vertical bar relates to our relationship with God. It our understanding that we are to love God with our heart, soul and mind. The horizontal bar reminds us of our relationship with others and the world. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves. SO, if we can’t remember the ten, we can easily remember the two.

In order to fulfill the fullness of the Law it appears, according to Jesus, that we have to begin with loving God and end with loving our neighbor.

That shouldn’t be too hard, should it?

Well, if only I knew your neighbor, you might be thinking.

Especially today being the Super Bowl you might have a split household on which team you will be rooting for-this could be a great challenge in living out the love your neighbor rule…

And isn’t it a gift to know that we can share the couch with friends of different teams and at the end of the game have our friendships intact. We can certainly be the same in our differences in many more things.

The greatest challenge I see with this call of Jesus in today’s terms,

is

how do I live a life that has the powerful, penetrating, preserving, and particular flavor of God’s kingdom’s good news?

Since salt is a penetrating, preserving, and has a particular flavor-how is God calling us to live our salty lives?

It makes me question what living like that looks like for me.

Does it mean marching in the streets,

or does it mean being at home knitting prayer shawls,

does it mean sending cards to soldiers overseas,

does it mean going to town council meetings,

does it mean volunteering in the schools?

I believe that God has a unique call on each of us.

God know who and how we are

and in that context God gives a job to do for the kingdom.

God might be asking us to just be present with someone who needs love.

And that is quite a heavenly task,

to join hands with someone and give them all your love.

Yes, God has something for each us in the midst of what we are already doing to bring a ‘pop’ of color to it and a ray of light.

Perhaps, all of these begins with a basic knowledge of what Jesus teaches us in the Bible. I would like to suggest that the good news that Jesus preaches is the news we should take some time to learn in the form of Bible study and reading of Scripture.

Old and New Testament.

In doing so we can get the flavor of God’s Word into our system and then shine forth with the light of the God we worship.

A second way that we can become the zesty salty folks (no not salty dogs-although some of you may prefer that), is to open our hearts to the practice of prayer. 

The more read and learn about Jesus,

the more we realize he was in communication with God as often as possible.

If we could begin our day and end it in prayer that would be a good start.

One of the joys of being around the elders of this church is their ability to pray without fear. They have provide an example of simple words spoken from the heart to God.

In choir we ask that someone say a prayer before we leave.

In the moment we hear such things as, “Lord thank you for getting us to hit the right notes in practice and help us do the same on Sunday.”

 Practice praying at mealtime if you don’t already do so.

Being grateful for the food before us helps us to then carry a grateful attitude toward other areas of our life.

As we pray for our meals we set an example for those who join us at the table of our home. This act is a simple way to share the good news of the kingdom.

Finally becoming salt and light and living the fullness of the Law in this day and time means answering the call of God for each of us.

The challenge is not for each us to be alike.

The challenge and the call is to be aware of God’s claim on us as God’s own and to live as God’s has uniquely called each of us.

Listen to your heart, for God is speaking to you there.

Listen to your neighbor for God is calling you to serve there.

Listen to your world for God is calling you to shine bright in it.

We are Christ’s body, his call to us is to be nourished by his Word,

to be strengthened by his love in prayer,

and to be made strong by his truth in service.

SO, in my prayer to Jesus, I’m asking him for more salt please.

Amen.

Diving In

Sermon John 5:30-47 January 17, 2016 Series of four

Diving In

I know it’s winter and the last thing on our minds is a swimming pool, unless of course it is the heated one down at the Y. But, have you ever sat in those big chairs on the side of the pool and just watched how people get into the water? Some people come running to the edge of the pool and dive bomb in. They make a huge cannon ball blast in the water and the entire pool is set in motion. Others like to climb to the top of the high dive and do fancy dives into the water. Others dive from the edge, cautiously preparing for the perfect form before they take the plunge. And yet, others choose not to dive at all but

check the water temperature with their big toe before they begin the descent. Then, little by little they enter and stop, pausing until they have acclimated to the water before they go on. Eventually they have accomplished the same as the first guy that dive bombed in the water, they are all in the pool, they made it.

There are different ways to dive into pools as well as there are different ways that we approach life. Not one of them is more correct than the other. They are just different fashions of who we are and how we enter into the opportunities around us.

Yet, getting in is essential.

Getting into life and a life of faith is essential.

Often we are hesitant and unsure of how to go about it.

We are unsure of who we are and what we are to do.

Not only are we uncertain of who we are but we wonder about who God is as well. We ask others and ourselves the question, “who believes this stuff? And what keeps people believing?”

Which brings us back to the words we heard from the gospel of John about Jesus-Jesus dives right in to share with the people who he is and why he is. He doesn’t dance around the topic. He doesn’t worry about what they will think of him or if they will like him. He is careful to share all that he has, to give all he has, and to hold nothing back.

He speaks to the experts, the leaders, who have spent their life diving into God’s Word to discover all there is to know about God and yet, Jesus says to them-they haven’t a clue!

Jesus uses the very Scriptures, the prophecies (the Law & the Prophets) to declare that he is the one sent by God and then points to the blindness of the leaders who do not see him in the Word of God.

Jesus as we have read and read during Christmas-and now in the season of Epiphany-is the Word made flesh. Jesus is the Logos!

He challenges the people then to believe what is written. If they choose not to believe what is written then how can they believe what Jesus says?

The Scriptures are the Logos. The Word of God.

Part of the worry of the early church was how to interpret the Scriptures.

It was difficult back then to interpret and understand the role of Jesus in the light of the Word of God, the Scriptures and the prophecies.

It became increasingly difficult for followers of Jesus to remain welcome in the Old Testament tradition due to the interpretation of Jesus as God’s revelation of salvation.

It was a challenge to be able to show that Jesus was the continuation and the fulfillment of the promise of the Messiah.

Therefore the gospel of John was written as a witness and as an assurance for the people of the early church. The words of the gospel gave them a place to search and to find and renew their faith in Jesus. It was written somewhere between 85-95 AD. It is clear it was written after the destruction of the Temple. It was written before 100 AD since it is made reference to in documents that date from then.

And so, here we listen to Jesus come to his own defense as if he is on trial to those who oppose him. He presents his words similar to trials found in the book of Isaiah, In Biblical Old Testament tradition, for a trial to have any credibility (Deut. 19:32) it required two to three witnesses to verify the person’s claim.

SO Jesus presents his three witnesses-1. John the Baptist- 2. the works of Jesus- 3. and the Scriptures.

The Scriptures point from the beginning to the end to Jesus. Jesus reports that all the prophecies of the Old Testament point to him as the Messiah. All the words of Moses verify that Jesus is One who God has sent.

The words of the gospel are consistent.

The gospel of John consistently speaks the one truth the readers are to hear from Jesus-“I have come in my Father’s name”-“anyone who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life.”

Whenever we struggle with the question of who we are or what we are to do the gospel of John redirects our questions about ourselves, our goals, our curiosity for our life and asks, “Who is Jesus?” It is in Jesus and through Jesus where the truth of who we are lies. It is God who sent him to remind us that we are loved, we belong and we will not be let go by the God of our creation.

This Bible, ‘the Way, or Reach Out’, it’s just a New Testament, written in simple English, was given to me at fifteen. It’s just a Bible. Yet, it was something so precious to this teenager of the ‘70’s that I would hide it under my pillow to catch snippets of the words written within it. The words pointed to Jesus and the power of the Spirit-the Logos-changed my life forever.

The words we heard today make the case for Jesus.

These words are the language of our faith. They announce for us who Jesus is, what he does, and what he offers.

Hearing and believing and turning to Jesus our questions of who we are and what we do are answered. We belong to God in Christ and that gives us purpose. Christ offers life and we in turn have life to offer.

Therefore we dive in:

1.       Because Jesus did

2.      Because even when we think the words we hear have no relevance they are as fresh today as the day they were written.

3.      The words from this gospel are not a how to book of discipline. The words we hear from here are about the real presence of Jesus. The words themselves act as witnesses to those who hear them no matter where they are read and say boldy here are the witnesses to the person of Jesus-listen and believe!

4.      We need to dive into Scripture like this and hear not only who Jesus is but also witness what Jesus does.

So whether we take a cannon ball dive into the Scriptures or begin with checking the temperature with our big toe.

Let’s begin the process of diving in-we will not be disappointed.

God is with us all the way.

Amen.

Resources: NIB volume IX O'Day; WBC volume 36 Beasley/Murray

What’s in it for me? The Bible overview-the whole and it’s parts.Study Series

What’s in it for me? The Bible overview-the whole and it’s parts. Study Series at FMPC. 

This series is part of the Cafe Church program started at the little church in Accomac VA. We worship and then follow with this new way of studying together as a small church of 15 or so. We interact and learn from one another with our own good questions that lead us into the next week of study. The early morning coffee is pretty good as well as the conversation. 

Here is Week One:

January 3, 2016 FMPC Bible Series Café Church

We Seek to Live our Story through God’s Story

What’s in it for me? The Bible overview-the whole and it’s parts.

Main Idea (from Faith Seeking Understanding PCUSA)

The Bible is a collection of writings that testifies to the mighty acts of God in creating, redeeming, sustaining human life. In a variety of ways-narratives, poetry, Gospels, letters-human hearts and minds inspired by the Spirit, gave voice to expressing the inexpressible.

Today we’ll take a brief look and the space and time of the Biblical world. Much of this world remains unknown still to this day, yet, there is room for exploration. Our own space and time continuum of the modern world would leave many also with a sense of incompleteness and a sense of challenge.

Let’s start with a few personal questions: What days mark beginning and endings for you. What days, weeks mark high points in your cycle or rhythm of life. What official calendar marks or shapes your time-fiscal, such as a school calendar, Jan-Dec, religious?

Where do you live? What do you see and how would you describe it. Draw a map of your world in which you highlight the places most significant to you. How is your map similar or different from the people around you?

About 100 years ago Einstein’s theory of relativity demonstrated that neither space nor time are fixed. when we think about historical or daily realities that doesn’t seem to affect us. But, as we look over a period of time we witness the fluidity of political borders and of natural changes to geography due to erosion, storms, natural phenomena. Also, space has changed over time too as we review the history of how we measure time.

Perhaps with this in mind we can come to our study of the Bible with a new perspective. Let’s take a quick look at the geographic details of the areas of where the Bible was written and where the events of the Bible took place.

We have two maps to explore. One is the CisJordan region, the other is of the Ancient Near East. These two maps comprise the special area of which the writings of the Old Testament take place.

By exploring its geography take a look at these Scripture texts. Psalm 121:1-2; Psalm 148: 3, 9-10; Psalm 8:3-4. What descriptions do you hear?

The area around Jerusalem receives 26 inches of rain a year. The area is rugged, hot and dry. The rainy season happens around November. During the hot seasons there are pockets of oasis in the desert in the Negev. The dry air creates starlit skies clearer than in humid regions. The enemies live near the ocean and the seas and the Israelites are mostly landlocked. Their acquaintance for living from the sea during this historical period is limited. All these images make their way into the biblical text. Fear of the sea and the leviathan can also be found in the Psalms.

Think about our life here on the Eastern Shore. If we were to write a psalm or a song about God using our surroundings, how would it be similar to what we read today and how would it be different?

Okay so we’ll take a tour of the map.

The Judean Highlands & Jerusalem. Here we discover Hebron which is the site of Abraham’s tomb.

The Coastal Plain, I mentioned is where the Philistines occupied the land and the sea. The Phoenicians were engaged in sea trade and predominated the fishing industry as well.

Shephelah is an area of many conflicts and battles. It is a low foothill area that has acted as a buffer during many conflicts between the Philistines and the Israelites. 1 Samuel 17 David & Goliath takes place here.

Samarian Highlands are more lush and green and it receives more rainfall than the other areas. The hills surrounding the valleys are rounder and smoother. Today one can see enormous fruit groves, olives and figs, and vineyards.

Jezreel Valley is a large flat plain about 20 by fifty miles in size. Meggido is the site of many strategic battles even into the 20^th century. It is also the site where Revelation writes about Armageddon. The story of Gideon, the Amalakites, the Mideonites all take place here.

Galilee & Sea of Galilee is 50 miles from Jerusalem. This area is a variety of topography as well as people. Some are Israelites some are not. The northern region is quite mountainous, the southern more smooth with rolling hills and fertile soil. This is the site of most of the New Testament stories surrounding Jesus’ ministry.

The Jordan River is small by comparison of what we read in Scripture. Most places it is only ten feet wide. It rarely floods and it continues to shrink in size. To the east of the Jordan lies the area of land that rises sharply from the valley long range that plateaus it is called the Transjordanian Highlands

Dead Sea is about 1200 feet below Sea level. It is the lowest point on the earth’s surface. It receives 3 inches of rain a year. temperatures can get as high as 140 degrees F in the summer. The water has 25-30% salt content. Unique salt formations are throughout-giving rise to the idea of Lot’s wife turning to a pillar of salt.

Mount Hermon

The Negev is the desert region where the path of the Exodus is believed to have taken place.

Most of the Bible stories play out in the landscapes we are describing. The size of land we are talking about is about the size of New Jersey 256 miles by 75 miles. However, the rivers Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris contributed to access of Africa and Asia. The larger region influenced and affected the lives and views of the people of the Bible.

As we leave today having had a geography lesson how does that impact our story as we seek to live into God’s story and Live our Story through God’s Story? I believe it opens us up to listen to the God who still speaks and illuminates our reading and deepens our understanding. Amen.

Resource: The Hebrew Bible: A thematic approach Gravett et al. Publisher WJK