Moving in Love

Sermon John 10:11-18 February 18, 2018 Lent 1

Moving in Love

Our theme this year in Lent is-‘Moving Toward the Cross’. Each week we will explore a Scripture that will support the various statements on the ways in which we move toward the cross. This week our movement toward the cross is in love, other weeks we move toward it in peace, in strength, in suffering, in faith. 

As we approach Scripture with these pre-set themes it sheds new light on how we explore and examine the Word of God before us. Everything we read, hear, touch, taste, and participate in is colored by the lenses of our experience, often our most recent experience. 

And it is also colored by the thoughts and ideas we might project upon it.

As we cross over into this movement of Lent on this first Sunday in Lent, perhaps what might be important for us, is to know a few things about Christ with whom we journey and a few things about ourselves.

Our reading this morning begins with the declaration from Jesus that he is the Good Shepherd. This entire chapter 10 is heralded as the Shepherd discourse. 

In John’s gospel this evangelist writes in a manner that puts us front and center in time with Jesus. 

As he declares to his disciples, “I am the Good Shepherd”, he declares it to us. We have no doubt about the identity of Jesus in these few words. He not only declares his love but also declares his purpose and his utter commitment to his purpose no matter what the cost, even the cost of his life.

Perhaps, this is what we need from Jesus as we begin our journey along this path of Lent. 

We need Jesus to be strong for us. 

We need Jesus to be certain and not wishy washy about who he is. 

We need Jesus to lead us as a leader who is firm in the knowledge of himself, not only as we travel through Lent but as we travel through life. 

An identified Shepherd leader is one who needs his sheep to do his job and I like that and find it quite refreshing. 

Jesus and the sheep cannot be separated from one another. 

We are his sheep. 

We are his beloved. 

We follow him and he guides us through thick brush, 

into the valley of death, 

and up to the river of life. 

Just as Jesus describes his relationship with the Father, 

he bring us into relationship with him.

However, for some, these 40 days can be daunting, as one of my friends said to me, “Lent is depressing. I stop going to church and don’t come back until Easter when its happy again.” 

Perhaps it is difficult to hear about the wilderness and chaos that confronted Jesus. And perhaps it is too challenging to witness him walking among those who suffered, and those who were in despair. Maybe what we find most distasteful is his own frailty and his own suffering and loss of life.

Yet, I find that is where our lives with Christ most often intersect. 

As we began our journey on Wednesday, Ash Wednesday, we began with the smudge of love, the smudge of God’s eternal love that claims us and calls us by name. 

Yes, we are finite creatures, but creatures who have a Good Shepherd who lies down at the gate of our lives, protecting defending, holding, and even giving up for us. There is no one else who would defend us to the end as he does. 

Jesus proclaims he is the one sent by God and will fulfill the promises of God in order to protect the flock. Jesus is the one who draws the sheep and the Father together. As God’s sheep we are God’s most loved treasure. Not just those sheep who call Jesus by name but all sheep, the ones who don’t even know God’s name, everyone of them are God’s most loved treasure.

 Perhaps, in the wake of the murders at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida this week, you are angry to even hear these words about God. 

Senseless loss challenges our faith statements about the love of God. 

It throws our faith into turmoil and locks us into asking questions that have ambiguous answers. We get lost as ministers try to validate their faith in God with bad theology-such as God’s plan, and God’s purpose. We hear strange proclamations about God’s love for some and not others…As ministers we often fail those who most need to hear about God’s love in times of greatest need.

Our theology, our understanding of God might still be skewed. We aim for the bull's-eye of the target and continue to miss the mark. We seek to do well, we yearn to do well. So what do we know in times like these? 

These things we know -God too lost a child. 

God too, lost a most beloved Son. God too watched and witnessed a world that would seek to destroy love by destroying and maligning that Son. 

We know-God was there in the midst of that suffering and God is there in the midst of all of our suffering. God’s presence (no matter how it shows up) brings comfort.

One most poignant photo from the scene of the school tragedy was that of a mother embracing another mother. 

Upon her forehead she bore the cross from Ash Wednesday service. 

An author (Valerie Shultz) writes this: We receive our ashes as a sign of repentance, of our yearning for God’s forgiveness, of our intent to live our faith more truly in the face of our mortality. “Remember you are dust, and to dust you will return,” says the priest or lay minister, blessing us with a blackened thumb. The ashes that mark our foreheads only last for a day, but the mark this makes on our hearts is meant to endure for the entire 40 days of Lent. And so, how sadly, tragically, wretchedly fitting is the front-page photo from this Ash Wednesday. We will carry these stories with us. Again, again. 

AP photo credit Jerry Auerbach

We, as God’s sheep, have the privilege of carrying along with this mother the burdens, the barriers, the wounds, the wonderings, the fears and the failings, of our sisters and brothers throughout the community.  (Susan McGhee) That photo reminds us that we are not alone. It reminds us that we are a community that holds and acts together for the love of God through and in all circumstances. 

God’s fellowship of love with Jesus is so beautifully woven into these words of John’s gospel. It is an intimate fellowship that intertwines every movement Jesus makes and grants him assurance as he goes. This expression, this knowledge of God and Christ offers us the mystical communion with the Shepherd who knows us by name and calls us to follow. We have the knowledge of God and ourselves as we enter this season. 

Let us go together through Lent with the watchfulness and tenderness of Jesus. In our ears we hear God whisper a blessing to us as we go-“You are my beloved”. Amen.

Resources: NIB; Word Biblical Commentary; Carolyn C Brown-Preaching to Kids Too; AmericanMagazine.org "Spiritual Lessons from a School Shooting"; Rev. Susan McGhee Holy Days and Holidays-Ash Wednesday 

Light of Love

Sermon Luke 1:26-38 December 24, 2017 Advent 4

Light of Love

Last Sunday we spent our worship experience focused on the story of the birth of Jesus through the Christmas program. The children and the choir shared the news words and music. Our hope was renewed as we witnessed our children participating in the promise of God. It was truly a light of joy.

Today on the fourth Sunday of Advent we spend time reflecting on the words of Mary as she encounters the angel Gabriel. I find myself pondering on the moment of discovery for Mary.

What is it like for us in those moments of surprise?

When the unexpected comes to us?

When the derailment of our plans and our dreams occurs, what is our response?

When we are left vulnerable to our family’s opinions, cultural expectations, and the views of the world, how do we react?

Are we aware of the presence of holiness when it appears?

There is quite a lot for us to ponder on this fourth Sunday of Advent.

God does enter into ordinary lives in ordinary ways. The angel called Mary highly favored. There was nothing in Mary’s life that would have been considered as something to be highly favored. She was poor. She lived in a town that people said nothing good comes from Nazareth. She was engaged to be married to a carpenter not a statesman or a wealthy, famous person.

God does enter into a real place in time and space. 

God breaks from heaven and begins dwelling among us in the most vulnerable way. 

Life and death hang in the balance for many a mother and child. 

Pregnancy and child birth are still to this day challenging. To conceive for some is without a thought and for others a time of great disappointment, despair, and grief. 

There are so many women who have suffered in silence as one pregnancy after another is lost and the hoped for infant returns to heaven. 

Women in childbirth are still at risk even with the best doctors and equipment available. There were safer ways for God to come to us to be among us than through this risky means.

And yet, in a little town, in a little house, with a young girl, we witness something new, something that changes our lives forever.

Mary heard the words of the angel and knew that God had come to her. Holiness had invaded her space. Holiness had come.

She asked the angel Gabriel, “How can this be?” We don’t have the opportunity for tone or inflection so we have to guess. We wonder if she is afraid, or if she was incensed, or confused, or just pondering the logic of what the angel is telling her. 

She talks with the messenger of God! She is not a silent bystander. She gets involved with the work of God within her. She becomes a partner with God in this process of redemption.

 Her response to the angel is so amazing. “May it be as you say, here am I the servant of the Lord,” is not a passive resignation for God or anyone else to do what they want with us. But, it is a response of commitment and participation with the work of God in this world.

Imagine if we too heard the word of God through the angels who visit us. Imagine if we too took a stand with God and said, “May it be as you say, here am I”.

Mary as we read further in Scripture sang a song which we now call the Magnificat. 

It was a song of liberation, a song of reversals, a song of resistance and even rebellion. 

Mary took her role as the mother of God in strength and in resilience. 

She had the resolve to follow through with whatever was to come. She had the ability to stand with a task that was contrary to the current culture. She stood firm in her faith as she faced the possibility of death. She stood firm in her faith when her son grew and took the risk of death upon himself. She stood firm in her faith as she sat at the foot of the cross and watched her son die. She stood firm in her faith even as she was cared for by others in her old age.

It is so hard for us as people of faith to figure out what God is calling us to do. 

We agonize over the call God has placed on us. We wonder if we are really doing what God has asked us to do. We agonize wondering if God really loves us. Are we worthy?

 Are we doing the right thing?

And then once again the story of Mary reminds us that God has not abandoned us. 

God chose to enter the human race by means of the human race. 

God’s creation so destroyed and distorted by acts of violence upon the earth, the creatures and each other could have been destroyed in the same breath by which it was created. But, somehow God looked upon everything there and burst forth in love. 

The Light of Love chose to push through all the depravity, sin, corruption, and discord to wash it all pure again beginning with waters of the womb. Our being drawn to the Light of Love is a rebirth in the same way.

God has sent angel messengers to us to announce that we too have received the power of God through his son born to us today. Let us say yes, let it be as you say, here am I your servant. Amen. 

Precarious Solution

I was told by several members that I preached a G rated version of the R rated tale of Ruth and Boaz-It is summer and children are present in the congregation-I'll let you be the judge. enjoy!

Sermon Ruth 3:1-18 July 16, 2017 Ordinary Time

Precarious Solution

I looked up the word precarious in the Merrium-Webster online dictionary because I wanted to be sure of its meaning before I used it in the title of today’s sermon. I wanted to be absolutely sure I didn’t misrepresent the word as it relates to Ruth and Naomi in this situation of their lives. And the  Definition of precarious. 1 : depending on the will or pleasure of another. 2 : dependent on uncertain premises : dubious precarious generalizations. 3a : dependent on chance circumstances, unknown conditions, or uncertain developmentsb : characterized by a lack of security or stability that threatens with danger.

After listening to the text this morning, I would definitely have to agree that Naomi took a huge risk with her daughter-in-law Ruth that night.

Naomi was concerned for her future and the future of Ruth. Already the

two had taken enormous chances coming back to Bethlehem to find their way after the tragic loss of their husbands and their livelihoods.

Clearly, these two are dependent on the will or the pleasure of another.

They seek out a way to have food and Ruth gleans in a field. Which ‘just so happens’ to be the field of a ‘kinsman’, a relative.

The sovereignty of God is all over this story.

As Ruth falls under the protection of Boaz who owns the fields, she is able to glean more than is needed for herself and for Naomi.

God is clearly present, working the behind the scenes, ever present, ever watching.

The plan set forth by Naomi for Ruth to enter into the presence of Boaz on the threshing floor is a risky situation, to say the least.

It’s one thing to fall into one’s favor to receive the choice leftovers from the field; but an entirely different story to think a forward proposal for marriage will be accepted.

But, for Naomi, she determines this risk is their only hope for the future.

These women are already vulnerable in a patriarchal society.

Yet, they throw themselves into chance circumstances,

unknown conditions,

in a place where Ruth’s actions

could threaten her safety and

place her in utmost danger.

And Naomi endorses and encourages it!

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Tangled in this mess is the story of love.

Mixed in the innuendos is the message of acceptance.

Woven through the action on the threshing floor is redemption.

When we look around us-

and I don’t mean just here among us-

but out there among people we know,

or people we hear about-

there are some of the oddest matches of people.

People who are friends

or couples,

or business partners,

are people you would never have dreamed of belonged together.

And yet, somehow, in some strange way, as you learn about them-it is clear they-in their uniqueness-they are a perfect match-God ordained-one might say.

We have this crazy assumption about how the traditional family is supposed to look.

And we get our assumptions, we say, from Scripture!!!

We assume the make-up of families is like the Leave it to Beaver show of the 60’s.

And yet, we have our own Lord and Savior Jesus born to a woman in the most unusual, and scandalous, circumstances. Her fiancé was ready to ditch her until he was stunned by the power of God through the words of an angel.

The story of God’s people is filled with a mismatch of personalities and of nationalities and of a whole lot more.

Perhaps that’s where the story of love comes in.

There is an unexplainable attraction that brings the two together.

From an outsider looking in there is nothing good about their relationship.

There is an age difference,

they are from opposite ends of the country,

one is a city dweller, the other from the holler,

one with a degree and the other a laborer.

God’s love for us draws the strangest folks together as a people called the ‘people of God.’

God chose Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, all of which had personalities that would make us all worry about our future. God chose Tamar, Rahab; women who many would have shunned.

God pours out hesed-grace-unmerited love on all these unions, whether marriage, or partners, or neighbors, or townspeople, or congregations.

As people fall in love with each other in the most precarious circumstances, God’s hesed-grace-unmerited love is pouring down and sealing their bond.

Ruth has been identified more than once in this story as a Moabite woman.

She is a descendent of the daughters of Lot-as told in Genesis.

She worshiped other gods,

she looks different-

she comes from another country-

she speaks a different language-

and yet,

God doesn’t hesitate to let her

into the story of salvation.

It’s remarkable how these stories in the Bible to which we trace our heritage are filled with people who shouldn’t belong.

What we learn is Boaz, who is placed in an embarrassing moment with Ruth, has it in his power to ruin her life.

She has placed herself in a threatening situation

and Boaz chooses to accept her

and protect her as an equal!

Wow!

The question for us is: ‘have we ever been in such dire circumstances that we would risk our safety, our reputation, our life to get what we need to survive not knowing the outcome and being completely dependent on someone else’s hoped for kindness?’

And if we can’t relate to that question,

then have we ever been approached by someone

who put us in an awkward situation

and instead of exposing them,

we accepted them and protected them?

We can preach acceptance all we want but when we are tested in the most precarious circumstances such as in this story-it causes us pause.

In 1974, my pastor-the one who officiated my marriage to Mike-had a predicament before him. Mike’s sister was in love and they wanted to be married. However, theirs was an unconventional relationship. She was a blonde white girl and he was a dark, black man-with African American and Native American heritage. As a pastor he was filled with the dilemma of whether or not to accept them as a couple and officiate their wedding. He prayed, he searched the Scriptures, he wrestled with God. He announced to them, to the congregation, and to the family-he saw nothing in scripture to prevent their marriage but everything to accept their love as in the Lord. And so, an example was set, just as God has loved us, so we are to love one another.

We have these stories in Scripture to continuously remind us to place ourselves within each character. As we experience the story through the different lenses we offer ourselves to God to allow us to experience God’s presence in the life of each. These stories are for the formation of God’s people from one generation to another. They are to remind us that God’s grace and God’s acceptance of all kinds of mismatches has been around since the beginning.

Finally, we discover the power of redemption-the will to save. Boaz, known in other translations as the kinsman redeemer, not only offers love and acceptance to Ruth, but he paves the way to save her and Naomi.

If redemption means to restore, to reconcile, to renew, to recover that which was lost, then Boaz is acting in a manner that will do just that for Ruth and Naomi.

We trust God to be the one who provides for our redemption through the grace of Jesus Christ.

We trust God to be the One to save people.

Yet, in this Old Testament story,

we are reminded that God moves through his people.

We are not inactive participants in the work of God’s salvation in the world.

We have a job to do.

Let us remember to live with the power of God’s love, acceptance, and salvation with every breath we take.

Amen. 

Love & Loyalty

Sermon Ruth 1:1-19 June 25, 2017 Ordinary Time

Love & Loyalty

Love, commitment, joy, sweetness, are all the wonders we hear when people get married. June & July are the months that seem to be alive with weddings and anniversary celebrations. In our own two congregations, we have each had the pleasure of celebrating a nuptial in our sanctuaries.

I think we are still fascinated with weddings.

We witness all the froo froo and just enjoy watching two people make a commitment to each other and then seal it with their vows.

I often ask couples who have been together for years,

why they even want to get married when they’ve proven their commitment through the way have lived their lives together.

Their response is most often the desire to make their commitment public-to ‘seal the deal’, so to speak. Living together through commitment is one things but, making vows to each other are clearly another thing altogether.

Whether people believe in God or not,

God is present wherever vows are made.

Marriage vows, whether in a church, a courthouse,

a field somewhere, are made before God.

Vows are binding.

Vows are not to be made lightly.

They are for a lifetime-unless one partner breaks the vow-and that’s a whole other story-they are what seals us, and sticks us like a magnet to the other.

In this story, Ruth makes a vow to Naomi-it is one we’ve often heard at weddings. The story behind those words is worth your time learning about. And that is what we will do beginning today.

The story of Ruth is really the story about Naomi.

 It is a story about turning.

It is a story about God’s impact and influence in the lives of others.

It is about grace and mercy. It is about a woman who suffers so much, without the possibility of rising above the miserable circumstances which have befallen her.

Naomi had nothing to do with the tragedy that came upon her.

We are often so quick to judge and this story puts calamity in perspective.

Sometimes horrible things happen to ordinary, regular people. ‘It is what it is.’

Naomi, with her husband, moved from her homeland to a foreign country to find food. During difficult times, people seek to find the way to turn their circumstances around. Sometimes it’s through a move, a change of jobs, or a change of environment. To turn in a new direction and to leave behind everything is a challenge in itself. Naomi and her husband Elimelech did just that.

They lived as foreigners in the land of Moab. While there her sons married. They were there for more than ten years. Then within a short period of time all the men died.

Tangent: While Ruth is part of the lineage to King David and therefore also the lineage to Jesus, the story seems to also be a significant parable. Because in the telling of the story the names of the characters signify their fate-Mahlon means sickness, and Chillion means failure. However, Elimelech means, God is my King.

Naomi was left a widow and a childless mother.

Her daughter in laws were also childless. So, here in this foreign place to which Naomi had turned and moved to with the intent to build a new life, has now left her utterly alone with no future. So, she struggles with what to do. In a culture that is not your own, it is really difficult to navigate problems and solutions. Naomi has heard that things had improved in her homeland and so she turns and faces the place from which she came. She decides to go back to Bethlehem and the customs she understand for widows. She still has a relative left alive so she chooses to go to his house and rely on the Jewish custom of caring for the family.

All of us here have moved at one time or another.

We know what it’s like to pick up and all of our belongings and plunk down in a new place.

It’s hard.

Even if the move was to something exciting and wonderful, it is still hard.

Even if the move was just down the street from the old house, it is still like starting over because the neighbors are different and new relationships have to be built.

Naomi’s decision to move in the first place was for survival because of famine.

Now her decision to move is again based on survival.

This time because of culture.

As a woman, she could not be independent and was required to be under the protection of a male.

As she is thrown into another survival situation her heart turns bitter.

She is bitter to her circumstances,

she is bitter to her surroundings,

she is bitter toward her God.

She cannot see any good in her life.

And this is where the grace of God enters into the life of Naomi through the words of a woman who worships other gods.

Here in this beautiful story is the beginning of how one woman’s emptiness is turned to hope, and then to fullness.

As you go home today and read this short Old Testament story you discover the power of God at work in the people that surround Naomi. Four short chapters.

God is in the business of constantly surprising us through the grace and mercy offered in unimaginable ways.

Naomi had her way set and turned toward Bethlehem.

In her bitterness, she cuts off the very people who love her. Her daughter in laws adore her and only want to stay with her. But, she sends them away hoping for them they can begin a new life with another husband. Orpah obeys her and leaves. But, Ruth, as stubborn as she is, disobeys.

In our lives we do the same, we get so caught up in our grief, or our bitterness, or our hurt, that we cut off and cut out the very people who love us most.

I’ve heard it asked by some special folks over the years,

‘Why do people stop coming to church when they experience hardship?

Isn’t church the very place where people love and support you through the hard times?’

In our emotional turmoil of things, we tend to behave in some crazy ways.

It’s in times like those that we need a Ruth in our life.

We need a Ruth to ignore our ever so rational and logical statements and tell us like it is.

We need a Ruth to hold on tighter to us when we try to shake her off and get her out of our life.

We need a Ruth to grab us around the waist and hold on to us saying she will never let us go.

We need a Ruth to say she loves us forever, she loves us no matter what we say to her, she loves us even if we try to leave her.

We need a Ruth in our lives who makes a vow to bind herself to us.

Friends, I hope more than anything, that we the church, can be the Ruth for those who need a Ruth in their lives.

We have a job to do.

Let us be faithful for those who struggle to be faithful.

Let us be faithful to those whose lives need a binding.

Let us be faithful even when we are pushed aside.

Let us be the lineage that holds firm to a future we don’t even know.

Let us learn how to be Ruth for the world. Amen. 

At the Crossroads-John

Sermon Matthew 26:36-46 April 2, 2017 5^th Sunday in Lent

At the Crossroads-John

We are at our final week of conversations with people we have met at the crossroads of their life. It has been an interesting journey learning about the different stages people have entered into their decisions to follow Jesus.

Today, we heard the Scripture read from the gospel of Matthew. In these final hours of the life of Jesus he goes once again to pray to his Father in heaven.

It is a most powerful scene.

The tension and the drama of Jesus caught in the struggle of obedience to continue movement toward the cross and his desire to remain on earth demonstrate the real struggle of the power of love.

Jesus shows the depth of his relationship with his disciples as he begs them

           to stay with him,

                     to watch with him,

                                 to remain with him.

Jesus hangs on to his love for them and their love for him.

The scene points to the essential need for relationship especially in dire times.

The Garden of Gethsemane is a place of choice.

It is a place where will and desire are put to the ultimate test.

The Garden is a place where what must be battles with what wants to be.

In the Garden of Eden in Genesis, human will for the ‘want to be’ was great

and it won over

       the will

           to remain with God,

                        to be with God,

                                to watch with God.

The Garden in Eden was the place where relationship and the fullness of life with God was lost.

We recognize sin

             as the willful disobedience of humanity.

Adam and Eve were fully aware and fully in control of their decision to disobey,

            no matter who they tried to blame.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, the Father brings around the restoration of God’s relationship to the people through the willful obedience of Jesus.

Jesus was fully in control of his decision as he reached the end of his prayers.

Jesus takes Peter, James and John with him as he moves further in the garden to pray. He keeps his closest companions with him. They fall asleep and Jesus wakes them begging them to support him in his efforts to reconcile himself with his fate.

Yet, the hour is late and they still fall asleep.

The human anxiety that Jesus faces because he is fully aware of what is about to happen, contrasts with the sleep of the disciples because they are not yet fully aware of what awaits Jesus. This points again to imperative of relationships of one with another.

It’s really hard to be supportive and present when we still can’t grasp the gravity of a situation.

I know as followers on this side of Easter we judge those disciples for not understanding Jesus and his predictions of his death.

But, I know when I want to deny the truth that is right before me because it brings me too much pain, I am like the disciples and I lack understanding even if the truth is staring me in the face.

We have all had those times.

We do not want to believe a diagnosis;

                                     or a termination notice;

                                                         or a break up, or…

We would rather crawl under the covers,

                                       fall asleep,

                                           turn the other way,

                                                   than witness the struggle before us.

John and his brother James were known as the sons of thunder. They were close to Jesus. These two and Peter are always at Jesus’ side. John is credited with the authorship of the gospel of John, Revelation and the letters that bear his name. John is also praised by the apostle Paul as one of the pillars of the Jerusalem church.

The fourth gospel is written in a way that it draws the reader into the stories as a participant. The prologue identifies the theology of the author. Jesus is more than his death on the cross. For the writer of the fourth gospel the power of God’s love for the world begins with the incarnation.

God’s love and desire for the restoration of creation begins with the birth of Jesus.

The importance of joy and light and life are prominent in this gospel.

In the life of Jesus, the first miracle that takes place is at the wedding of Cana. The abundance of wine demonstrates the abundance of all that God has for God’s people.

In the fourth gospel Jesus proclaims he is sent by the Father more than 100 times. It is essential for John to make clear that Jesus is the one who has completed what is needed for the salvation of the world.

Jesus is the great I AM.

He is the bread of life.

He is the living bread.

He is the light of the world.

He is good shepherd.

He is the resurrection and the life.

He is the way, the truth and the life.

In this fourth gospel, John has sought to clarify that the decisive measure of one’s relationship with God is one’s faith in Jesus. The coming of Jesus into the world is what has given the world access to the light and love of God.

In the fourth gospel, Jesus talks to his disciples about the power of God’s presence with them. He prepares them for the time when he will no longer be with them. He talks to them about the Holy Spirit.

He seeks to prepare them for the comfort of his presence through the presence of the Spirit to come. It is this Spirit that dwells with us at our crossroads of life. Jesus said. “Abide in me, as I abide in you.”

It is his invitation to us to allow the fullness of his presence always.

The Garden of Gethsemane was the place where we witnessed the restoration of God’s relationship with God’s people through the willful obedience of Jesus. Jesus went to the cross, he rose again, he fulfilled the promise of God.

Let us recognize the transforming power of God’s love in us. Let us say yes, to following Jesus. Amen.

At the Crossroads-Peter

Sermon Luke 22:54-62 March 26, 2017 4^th Sunday Lent

At the Crossroads-Peter

As we travel these weeks of Lent we’ve met some interesting people along the way. 

Bourgogne Crossroad

Today we meet Peter. He has been made famous for his many choices documented in Scripture. We feel like we really know him. He made a lot of declarations about Jesus during his ministry. He was rather pushy at times and excited and even a bit childlike in his mannerisms.

What are some things you can remember from your Bible teachings about Peter?

Is there any one story that sticks in your mind?

Peter and Andrew were called to follow Jesus at the same time. Peter was first known as Simon and the Jesus named him Cephus/Peter which means rock. He was from Bethsaida but lived in Capernaum, he was a fisherman.

Peter is the disciple that walked on water just to see Jesus. He has been the one quick to action and quick to fall. Peter was part of the inner circle of Jesus. He was with James and John on several occasions when Jesus took only three disciples with him. Occasions such as the raising of the daughter of Jairus and at the transfiguration. Peter was impulsive and he even sought to rebuke Jesus when Jesus starting talking about his own death. Peter pledged to Jesus that he would never forsake him and that is when Jesus warned him that he would deny Jesus three times.

Perhaps this is why we can all identify with Peter. He seems real to us. We feel that we might be just like him in some situations. Or we are pretty quick to judge him and say that we would not behave like him.

It is so easy for us on this side of Easter to look at Peter and his denial of Jesus in the courtyard and chastise him for his reaction to those gathered around him.

But, Peter had no clue what was to happen. Even though Jesus talked about suffering and death none of the disciples had any idea of how this was going to transpire.

We don’t live our lives with crystal balls in front of us.

We don’t live knowing how things are going to unfold.

Therefore, when we make strong declarations and bold statements of how we will act and how we will be bold, it might not transpire as we hope.

Life gets in the way all too often.

Peter was following closely as Jesus was taken to the High Priest’s house. He wanted to be close but he had no idea what to do next. He had already tried to fight and Jesus didn’t want any of that to happen.

He was probably following close trying to figure out his next move.

When the servant girl and the two servant men identify him as one of Jesus’ disciples. It catches him off guard.

It catches him in the middle of his thoughts about what to do to help Jesus.

These people have messed up his planning.

He needed more time.

They took him by surprise and he wasn’t ready to respond.

He reacted as usual with quick words.

He just wanted them to leave him alone as he followed Jesus and tried again to make plans to rescue him or maybe even prepare a discourse.

And before he realized he had denied knowing Jesus three times and the rooster crowed.

In the gospel of Luke, the poignant moment wasn’t the realization of the denial. But, that Jesus looked at Peter. And with the look of Jesus, Peter was filled with remorse. He was devastated and he ran away and wept bitterly.

Peter’s faith didn’t fail him at this moment. It was his faith in Jesus that responded with regret when he saw the face of Jesus. In the face of Jesus, we experience love, mercy, grace beyond measure. In the face of Jesus our relationship with him is sealed forever. We call that salvation. Salvation, our relationship with God, sealed through the love of Christ.

Fred Rogers had many things to say about relationships. As an ordained Presbyterian minister Fred Rogers chose to spread the message of the gospel through the show, Mr Roger’s Neighborhood. It was a program all about the power of relationships and love for one another.

“Love isn’t a perfect state of caring. It is an active noun like ‘struggle’. To love someone is to strive to accept that person exactly the way he or she is, right here and now-and to go on caring even through times that might bring us pain.”  

At that is what the look of Jesus upon Peter did. It loved him and showed forgiveness even in the moment of the pain of being denied.

Forgiveness is necessary in all relationships.

We cannot survive without the love and forgiveness of others.

And when we receive forgiveness we have the opportunity to repent, to change, to turn another way. It is our choice point. It is our crossroads.

The power of faith is that repentance flows from faith rather than precedes it. Repentance is actually born of faith. It is the sum of our faith. (Calvin Institutes) When we recognize that we have succumbed to temptation and denied the very One in whom we believe; it is our faith that brings us to our knees in sorrow. For, how could it be that if we were without faith that we could even experience remorse for our sin of denial? 

Dr Orr once said, ‘There is only one thing evil cannot stand, and that is forgiveness.” And forgiveness is born out of love. And love is born from God. For God is love. And we belong to God who loves us. 😃

All of us find a time or place where we should have said a bold word, a good word. We struggle with what we should say. We struggle with how our faith will help us. We struggle if our words will help or hurt our relationships. We may never face a time where our words will put us in danger for our lives, but there are times when we will find ourselves at a crossroads that calls on us to speak boldly.

How do we handle those times?

Have we yet to experience those times?

We are so quick to condemn Peter for not standing up and being bold at the very moment when we think he should have been. We are so quick to rebuke those who do not take a stand for justice and righteousness in the way we expect it to be done. We especially get angry when those silent have caused harm to us.

The toughest thing for us is to love someone who has hurt us. Someone who has been cruel, mean, and unjust to others. And yet, somehow there is this power that flows from the look of Jesus, the power of love and mercy, that causes us to see Jesus in that person as well.

To find mercy in our heart to offer to them what Jesus has offered to us.

Now the other toughest thing is to love the someone who has been mean to us when that person is our self. Take good care of this person. Offer this person mercy and forgiveness too.

Let us be gentle as we hold expectations before us and recognize our need for courage comes from above.

God is the one who calls us into lives of purpose.

God is the one who calls us to serve with the unique gifts given us. And when we falter, we can look up and see the face of Jesus loving us, forgiving us, and pouring his grace upon us.

Fear not.

Grace will lead you home. Amen.

A Place for Joseph

Sermon Matthew 1:18-25 December 11, 2016 Advent 3A

A Place for Joseph

Often life gets in the way of our perfect dreams.

We hope for order.

We seek peace.

We yearn for love.

We desire joy.

We want a place to call our own.

We want a place that offers us opportunity.

We want a place that provides us space for our perfect dreams to come true.

More often than not our place is found in the unexpected.

Our dreams are met through imperfection.

When we think about Joseph,

the one engaged to Mary,

we wonder what place he had in the story of Jesus our Savior.

Where does he fit into the narrative of Emmanuel, God with us?

We struggle to answer the question of who he is.

When we talk to our children about him as we put the nativity pieces together, we stumble over our words, “He’s, umm, he’s uhh, well, he’s Jesus’ earthly dad.” “He is the one who raised Jesus and taught him all he needed growing up.”

But, there is more to Joseph than this.

There is much more to tell about him as we listen to the words from the gospel of Matthew. Joseph is probably the one in the nativity who is given the least attention. He is the one who we rarely talk about as we go through Advent and Christmas.

And he is the one who does not have much place in our conversations about faith and life and salvation.

Joseph, we read, is a righteous man from the house of David.

He knows his family story and his family name and has lived his life accordingly. He is an upstanding citizen known in the community and is a fine carpenter. He is engaged to a beautiful young woman named Mary. He is a man of faith. He has been raised in the faith, gone to school to learn the Word of God, publicly professed his adherence to the Law of God and has lived a righteous life.

His life has followed the ‘proper order’ and it appears he has a future where his perfect dreams will come true.

And yet, as we learn from scripture the life of Joseph and his perfect dreams, becomes anything less than perfect. There is a huge cloud of trouble that descends on this sweet couple.

Thanks to the artists of old we have a painted picture of perfection in our minds of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Yet, the birth of Jesus was anything but idyllic.

As a matter of fact, Jesus was born into a family that was subject to scandal, gossip and disgrace.

This couple found themselves torn and in turmoil.

Joseph was caught in a crisis!

The relationship of Joseph and Mary was at stake.

His fiancé was with child and he was not the father!

All honor, faith, and righteousness disappeared in the announcement of this impending birth.

Every dream Joseph had was immediately dashed.

Joseph was caught in the midst of a very messy family drama (and we all know what that’s like) and there appeared to be only one way to handle this mess.

Being a righteous and honorable man Joseph realized he only had two choices according to his faith. -He could break the engagement, dismiss Mary and send her away in quiet disgrace.  -Or he could also implement the Law and have her publicly accused of wrong doing and have her stoned to death.

Either way, his choices were honorable, and righteously just. It was crucial for the sake of the family and the a descendant of David to follow the rules, to maintain his place in his family and society.

We still live like that today. (And that’s a good thing) We still want to maintain honor and dignity and follow the rules. We want to live lives of integrity and maintain our places in society and our families.

Yet, we know that life is messy.

Families are anything but perfect.

There is always drama, turmoil and crises.

I find it reassuring that our Savior was born in real life, flesh and blood circumstances. Jesus was born into real and honest family relationship crises.

Can you imagine what the parents of Mary and Joseph were saying?

What I appreciate most about our Father God is that he loved us so much that becoming one of us meant becoming part of the mess! God came into the midst of real life drama, suffering, scandal, gossip, and relationship struggle.

Joseph makes a choice of his place in this salvation story of God by hearing the word of the angel and doing the unthinkable.

Before Jesus turned the tables and the world upside down,

Joseph turns the tables of what doing right is all about.

His actions were the beginning of an upside down world of grace!

Caught in the tension of the Law and the command from God, Joseph moves from doing what is right to doing the right thing.

Sometimes grace is counter to justice.

Sometimes grace is contrary to righteous rules.

Sometimes grace is converse to accepted traditions.

Sometimes grace is clashing the proper order.

And all the time grace breaks through the messy,

the crises,

the tension,

the expectations,

the perfections,

and dumps out love,

pours out compassion, interrupts the norm, offers the unexpected, gathers the lost, unites the lonely, brings together the broken, and lifts up the outcast.

Joseph makes the intentional choice of love to be a husband and a father despite all the oppositions around him. Without this most unusual offering of Joseph, the holy family might not have been as we know it today. Perhaps the words we hear from Jesus about love and grace were first heard while he sat on the knee of his earthly father Joseph.

As we look at our nativities we can look at the place for Joseph as one of great love and grace. May we be as willing in our place to hear the words of the angels and allow God to enter into our messes. May we be willing to be the ones who offer grace all the time. Amen.

Poured Out Love

Sermon John 12:1-8 March 13, 2016 Lent 5C

Poured Out Love

When the word generosity enters my thoughts I’m humbled and even silenced. When I reflect on the many ways generosity has been poured upon and about me I find myself unable to grasp the fullness of it all.

Generosity is powerful.

Generosity breeds generosity.

And kindness breeds kindness.

And love breeds love.

Mary’s love poured out on Jesus’ feet is an act of worship.

Her act was a gesture of love.

It was one small thing she could do to offer all she had to the one she loved.  

Love poured out can only be from the heart.

Imagine giving someone you love every ounce of what you have in life to offer?

What would it look like?

Mary’s ability to act in love for her Lord in the midst of a feast with many gathered around demonstrates the power that love gives to discipleship. Pure love and tenderness wrapped in the package of pure audacity and boldness.

Gail O’Day comments that the anointing shows what it means to be one of Jesus’ own. Mary gives boldly of herself in love to Jesus at his hour just as Jesus will give boldly of himself in love at his hour.

The fullness of love is hard to pin down to one word or phrase.

Is it the sloppy kiss or the diamond ring?

Is it the sunset shared with a friend or the fancy new clothes?

It is the thousand simple actions that open our eyes and our hearts to the goodness and truth of love that surrounds us. We’ve seen this gift in some marriages and desire that love in our own lives. We’ve seen in parent to child. In brothers and sisters, and even neighbor to neighbor.

In his book ‘The Four Loves’ C.S. Lewis states, affection is humbled love. He doubts we ever catch love at the beginning of it. To become aware of it, he says, is to become aware that it has already been going on for some time.’ Affection opens our eyes to goodness we could not have seen.

Mother Teresa shared that not all of us can do great things.

But we can do small things with great love.

Part of our ability to begin to offer gestures of love is also to know how to receive them.

We have difficulty receiving small gestures of love and as CS Lewis said we might miss the beginning of it and not even be aware that it is happening to us.

How many of us brush off a compliment?

When someone offers us a kind word can we hear it?

If someone tells you how much they appreciate you can you accept their words or do you deny them the gift of sharing them with you?

When someone tells you they like your dress or your tie or your hair or your speech or your presentation or your tidy office do you say thank you?

 Or like so many of us do you say, “Oh this dress or tie is so old, my speech and presentation were just ok and pulled together from old stuff, my desk is just like this today, you should have seen it yesterday.”

This way of receiving a simple outreach of affection, of a compliment, of a blessing denies the giver of being a blessing to you.

Our acceptance of generosity blesses the giver and together we are able to pass on the blessing to others.

Jesus offers us in this moment with Mary a window into the world of poured out love.

We know from the story of the raising of Lazarus that Mary loves and believes in Jesus. We know she was there and witnessed his return to life. We know that she was beyond grateful for this miracle of love and reuniting of her family. Her act of pouring out a pound of perfume on Jesus’ feet and them wiping them with her hair was not just a, ‘Gee, thanks Jesus, your such swell guy’, kind of act.

The act of Mary in this scene was intentional.

It was planned.

It was anticipatory.

This act anticipated future events.

Mary anoints Jesus’ feet before Jesus is buried in the tomb. Mary wipes Jesus’ feet with her hair before Jesus washes and wipes the disciples’ feet, telling them to go and do likewise.

She is the bold prophet.

She fulfills the love commandment (as Gail O’Day states) before it is taught.

Mary gives boldly of herself in love to Jesus at his hour

just as Jesus will give boldly of himself in love at his hour.

~~

And then,

Judas tries to derail everything she has just done.

He throws suspicion and doubt at Mary.

He disrupts the holy moment

to speak of morality and justice.

Only a Judas would question the gift.

Only a Judas would place suspicion on the reasons for offering all of oneself to another.
Only a Judas would steal the love behind the gift by comparing it to what others need or the concerns of the world, or the church budget, or the strings attached or …

Judas is the thief that wants to steal the power of the gift

and he wants to control the very gift.

We too can get caught up in controlling gifts we give or receive.

We put strings to them.

We’ve seen it in church and college and hospital budgets

where the power of the gift of a love gesture

is snuffed away as suspicion surrounds even the giver about motives.

Judas is the hypocrite that criticizes the gift of Mary and the power of love in its offering by telling Jesus it should have been given to the poor.

And that’s where we find ourselves so often stuck without a response or an answer to gestures of generosity.

We could feed the world with all the food and the funds we have on earth now.

And we should.

And we should find ways to do that.

We should already be doing that.

We should be offering our gifts towards issues of justice and mercy all the time.

It’s something we are supposed to do.

Judas makes the action of Mary an either/or rather than a both/and.

We should be going out and doing what we have been called to do in the world.

Because if we are not already doing these things then perhaps what we are doing is hoarding the gifts that are meant to be shared (Feasting on the Word).

Jesus rebukes the attempt of subversion by a self-centered Judas.

Jesus refuses to allow Judas to disrupt or destroy the community of faith.

Jesus’ words about the poor were not words to dismiss the Biblical responsibility that the community of faith has to care for them and to always lift them up,

but it was an anger that Judas would compare an act of worship

to a responsibility of living out true love.

Jesus will not allow the truth to be twisted by greed or subversion or any other act that is contrary to his love for God’s children!!

There are a lot of people today who are skilled at taking our attention away from the things that matter most.

There are a lot of people who are skilled at twisting words

and turning our heads to see things that appear to be about justice and mercy

and yet are really inciting hate and anger and violence.

Be careful of the Judases that still surround us!

And especially the Judases that live within our own hearts!

This story today is about Mary and just like the world lives,

the story seems to draw back to Judas

and he gets all the attention.

Our faith is stronger than that!!

Mary’s gift is where Jesus wants us.

Whether the gift of poured out love is oil from an alabaster jar or

an anthem sung by the choir or a

Sunday school lesson or an

arrangement of flowers or a

home baked pie or a

bar of chocolate,

these open our eyes

and our hearts

to the goodness and truth of love that surrounds us and make a lasting lifetime impact.

When the word generosity enters my thoughts I’m humbled and even silenced.

I find myself unable to grasp the fullness of it all.

Generosity is powerful.

Generosity breeds generosity.

And kindness breeds kindness.

And love breeds love.

Let the love of Christ be poured out upon you. Amen.

~~~~

After a challenging moment after Sunday's sermon-I added this addendum:

Perhaps I was wrong in my sermon yesterday.

Perhaps there are times
when no amount of generosity, kindness, or love
will breed generosity, kindness, and love.

And it is in those times we remain vigilant in the faith that sustains us.
In those times we hold on to the promise that in the end God wins.
God always wins.
And that is when God's love prevails.
Isn't that what the cross and Easter are all about anyway? 

Resources: Gayle O’Day notes from Gospel of John workshop; C.S. Lewis Four Loves; Feasting on the Word Lent 5C.