Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Sermon 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 June 11, 2017 Trinity Sunday

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

I’ve been told more than once not to try to explain things I don’t understand. So, I promise you I will not bother letting you know how electric circuits work. I failed to figure it out. But, I do know when I flip the switch the lights come on. I do not fully understand the mechanism but I fully enjoy the benefits of light and I trust it’s ability and value.

Today is Trinity Sunday.

It is an important day in our church calendar. It is the day we remember that we worship the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Whenever we say Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we call that the Trinitarian formula.

It sounds like a magic potion. But, it’s not.

It is something the early church struggled with.

People lost their lives over the efforts made to bring understanding to this strange relationship that Jesus tells us about in his prayer in John 17:22 “The glory that you have given me, I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one. 23 I in them, and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me, and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Unity is the key of this prayer Jesus prays to the Father.

And unity is what we discover in the benedictions offered by Paul to the recipients of his letters.

And perhaps that is all we need to know about the Trinity.

We are grateful to the early church parents for their hard work of discerning the faith doctrines for us.

Even if they leave all of us future generations scratching our heads and saying: 

      “Thanks a lot. I’m glad you figured it out.”

We are taught there is One God.

We are taught-The unity of this One God is an absolute.

We are taught-The Scripture describes this One God as three persons and their roles for our salvation. Each has a distinctive role with creation.

We are taught-The whole church affirms these roles.

And so, we leave it at that.

On this Sunday, I find the final words of Paul in this last letter to the Corinthians to be challenging as well as comforting as well as confirming/affirming.

I find this set of final verses to be filled with grace.

In this second letter to the Corinthians, Paul sets the record straight for these church people who have manipulated and maligned him. He has provided for them and offered all of himself to them and they have challenged every ounce of his being. This second letter to the Corinthians is a letter that is full of defense. Paul has had to prove who he was and to prove his position to them in order to get them to listen to him, let alone follow his leadership. It was a difficult time for these church people to learn to live as a church and to learn to be united in Christ as his body. They had been through the tough times and were not doing so well in the good times.

The most difficult time for folks, congregations, communities, and countries, is following a crisis. During the crisis, people pull together and work and make things happen. But, holding it together following the crisis is more challenging than ever.

We saw that in the town where we did tornado clean up. Once the major companies had done their work, the town was left to sort through the rubble and rebuild. It was here that confusion and discord prevailed. Even though the churches did their best to hold it together, it (like so many other places) struggled as the unity of Christ became more and more fractured.(1) The complaints became many and the demands were beyond measure. That community was not alone for there are other examples such as life after apartheid in South Africa, after WWII in Europe; and after the Civil War in the United States.

No matter what, God draws all people together through the power of grace. Whether we want to admit it or not, our lives are dependent on grace. Paul knew that as he opened and closed all his letters with words full of God’s grace.

 

Cluny

These few verses from Paul’s farewell to the Corinthians are a powerful benediction for all those who hear and read these words. He offers his words not as a conclusion that we here at the end of church as we think, ‘whew, it’s finally over.’ (2)

But, he offers them a charge-something they must take with them and seek to do as the body of Christ within the walls of their church and beyond the walls in their world.

1.     1.   Put things in order. 

       Presbyterians love this one. Order, decency, a framework of understanding, communicating, and commitment. And in the order of things there is always the grace of Jesus doling out forgiveness. Our faith life depends on our willingness to live in the order of grace-which as I tell those about to marry depend on the gift of God in Christ which is: commitment, communication, and forgiveness.(The three legged stool that cannot be stable without all three legs.)

                           The job of the church is to witness the grace of Christ to the world and it can only be                              done when her house is in order. “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved,                              you and your household.” Acts 16:31

2.      2. Agree with one another. 

      This was a tall order from Paul to a group who he had just been down in the mud getting them to hear him and to sort out their differences. He had to make some extraordinary commands with them just to get through a simple worship service-(1 Corinthians offers us our first glimpse at worship in the early church-and some of it was not very pretty). Paul had to help them understand that Communion was for everyone and no one had more prestige than another…and now to ask them to agree with one another…goodness.

-Yet, the charge to agree was (and is) very important for the church. The church had to learn to wrestle with the challenges they faced. To discuss. To disagree. To debate. To do all that was necessary to come to agreement in the Lord.

Any discussion that the church had or has starts with the agreement of who we worship and in whom we believe. Once agreement is made in that department then the unity of the Spirit finds a way to bring accord among the people.

3.     3.  Live in Peace. 

      Paul hopes to find the church seeking to live in the peace that is given to them through the love and peace of God who promises to be present with them. It is clear the presence of God with the church is the most important part of faith. When we are able to acknowledge the power of God present with us then it becomes more convincing to our minds that we are capable of the impossible-to like each other and love each other in the way of God’s love and grace.

4. 4.   Greet each other with a holy kiss. 

       This is not a comfortable exhortation for Americans. But, a holy kiss-a peck on the cheek is less invasive than a hug. It is the social manner of making sure everyone acknowledges the other. We are to be sincere in our manner of greeting.

Paul’s blessing offered is one you hear often. And it is the sending for this church as a reminder again of the unity of the God who loves us, sustains us and offers himself for us.

As Christ’s church, we are offered his grace and love at every turn.

May we receive his love.

May we commit ourselves to him.

May we say yes to grace.

May we be ever mindful wherever we go to live as witnesses of a loving God.

May we do all this in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Amen. 

Resources: NIB Volume XI J. Paul Samply (1), (2). 

Fan the Flame

Sermon Acts 2:1-21 June 4, 2017 Pentecost Year A

Fan the Flame

It is Pentecost Sunday!

Fifty days since Easter-the day of Resurrection-remember that day?

It seems like forever ago, doesn’t it?

Imagine being the disciples!

They’ve been walking around in shock, in a daze. Their emotions on a roller coaster ride.

First their hope in Jesus, their Savior, died.

Then, their love for Jesus was restored when he rose from the dead.

They saw him several times during the forty days he was on earth in his resurrected state. (Which is also very confusing, because we aren’t really sure what he looked like, since several people didn’t recognize him.)

Then, their faith was confused again, when he ascended into heaven and told them to stay put. He said don’t go anywhere, just stay where you are and the Spirit will come.

I believe this is one of the single most important features of the faith of the early church: 

*The disciples were willing to follow,

obey,

wait,

and respond,

to a future to which they had no clue.

All because they trusted the One who led them.*

It is amazing the risks and uncertainties that we are willing to take when we trust.

I can think of a few examples. I trust mom.

When I was a little girl, she told me

I needed a vaccination.

She told me it would hurt,

but it would protect me from disease.

I trusted her.

I didn’t like the idea of a painful injection.

But, I trusted my mother’s words and

I was willing to be protected even if it caused a moments pain.

Jesus promised the disciples that they would receive power.

They would receive the Holy Spirit and they would never be alone.

Everything these disciples lost from a world they understood, did not disillusion them from continuing to trust in the One who brought them all together and loved them. Jesus’ love and promises rang true to these men and women. And so, they waited.

They waited together.

They were willing to be comfortable with uncertainty.

They prayed constantly together.

They knew that Jesus had told them they would be

his witnesses throughout the ends of the earth.

And they trusted him.

In their togetherness, the Spirit came.

The Spirit came with a mighty rushing wind and descended on each of them with tongues of fire.

Look around at each other and imagine a flame dancing on your brother or sister’s head. It’s pretty hard to imagine. And as AJ said, “That’s silly!”

And then,

everyone you see who came today from different parts of the country and the world, are speaking to you in a way you can understand.

Someone from Tangier is able to understand someone from New Jersey. And folks from California can understand people from Louisiana. Witnessing those speaking Greek when they were not Greek, or Persian, or Latin, your eyes and your ears would not believe you.

Yet, this is how we are told it happened.

I can give you all the theological reasons why we read it this way. Such as, this became the reverse to the tower of Babel and so humanity was no longer purposely divided and dispersed but was now drawn together in unity and understanding.

There is quite a bit more that we can sit down and study.

But, for today I think,

the power of God at work through these few trusting people

is a witness to those few of us still choosing to trust today.

Or even if we don’t trust and yet we show up with skepticism and with curiosity and with doubt and with wonder, this is where the power of the Spirit surprises us and enters in.

Choosing to be together and choosing to trust each other is in itself power. There is a world out there that has not changed a whole lot. It is a world where there is little trust and a lot of discord. But, here, in this place, the Spirit comes with a mighty wind and rushes through us to stir us, to pour out upon us, and to fill us with the fire of God’s love.

Here in this place God sees a gathered people praying together and God swoops down with the Spirit’s flame and fills each of us. God witnesses a group of faithful and fans the flame of his Spirit to push through the centuries and to keep on keeping on.

You see Pentecost was not a onetime event.

Pentecost (which is Shavuot-fifty days from Passover-fifty days from Easter for Christians) is still happening.

The power of the Spirit continues to rush through the church and her people as they gather. God’s people find times when they are amazed at their ability to understand one another and their ability to work together.

The strength of unity in diversity is the power of the church.

It is what happened on this day more than 2000 years ago. And it will keep happening as we take the steps.

Opening our hearts to trust is step one.

Opening our lives to power is step two.

Opening our minds to unity is step three.

The Holy Spirit will descend upon us with the rush of a mighty wind

and tongues of fire will appear

and we will be amazed at what is happening

and we will not understand it

but we will accept it.

God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline 2 Tim 1:7

We just need to ask God to fan the flame to keep us going forward now and forever. Amen.

Resource: Karoline Lewis Working Preacher

Prayers are Windows

Sermon John 17:1-11 May 28, 2017 7^th Sunday of Easter/Ascension-Memorial Day Weekend

Prayers are Windows

God of power and mercy,
you destroy war and put down earthly pride.
Banish violence from our midst and wipe away our tears,
that we may all deserve to be called your sons
      and daughters.
Keep in your mercy those men and women
who have died in the cause of freedom
and bring them safely
into your kingdom of justice and peace.
We ask this though Jesus Christ our Lord.
R/. Amen

When I was a little girl I loved the Disney animated movie of Cinderella. I dreamed of having a fairy godmother that could take all my troubles away. I dreamed of a fairy godmother that could make all my dreams come true and give me more than I ever could have imagined. Beautiful fancy dresses and dancing, and a prince charming all swirled in my head as the wonders to be had.

So, when my life entered into a life of prayer as a teenager, the image of the Cinderella fairy godmother first came to mind. I wanted God to take all my troubles away and I wanted God to grant me a life where all my dreams would come true.

But, as I grew-from teenager to adult-I learned a lot more about prayer-and a lot more about God.

There are so many things that we learn from our eavesdropping on the prayer of Jesus. We learn about eternal life, we learn about relationship, we learn about unity, and we learn about love.

Jesus offers us a window, an inside look, at how he prays. As we listen to his words we get to see what kind of person he is.

The words we hear from Jesus as he prays in John 17 are windows into who Jesus is, who we are, and how we are all one and called to life of unity.

Prayers are windows to God

John Calvin writes a lot about prayer he says, “Words fail to explain how necessary prayer is, and in how many ways the exercise of prayer is profitable. It is therefore by the benefit of prayer that we reach those riches which are laid up for us with the heavenly Father.”

Prayers according to Calvin bring us into the riches of the Heavenly Father. We experience that as we enter into the words Jesus uses in this prayer for his disciples. Jesus appears to be fully present with God. As he prays, it is as if God is sitting in the chair next to him having a cup of tea while they talk.

Jesus, puts God first in his prayer and seeks for God to accomplish God’s glory not only in him but by him for his disciples. In this prayer, we learn about how God and Jesus are one with each other. We learn that God has given Jesus authority over humanity. We learn that Jesus has given eternal life to those who he claims are his.

As we pray to God what assumptions about God do we bring to the table of our prayer? Is God a fairy godmother who answers our requests and whisks away our troubles?

Or is God perhaps the one in whom we witness glory and wonder?

Perhaps, God is the One who sits at table with us and brings us comfort and confidence as we lift up our words in prayer.

Prayers are windows into knowing God.

The more we enter into words of prayer the more we have the experience of the presence of God.

Prayers are windows to life

St Augustine said: ‘'O Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.'

Jesus is not restless with God as he prays for his disciples. He is openly talking about the relationship he has with God. They are together-one with another. Jesus’ desire is for the disciples to be one with God.

And in this oneness, is eternal life. Perhaps the rest Augustine talks about is this oneness-this unity with God.

He offers this window to eternal life. 

Jesus assumes God is with him in love and unity.

He believes God will, through the power of presence, bring the fullness of life.

Eternal life is not a future context but a here and now experience of the glory of God within us and around us.

And if we believe this about life, then we can believe we are not alone in anything we do. If we believe we have the riches of God with us now, then we have the courage to go about being God’s disciples for the glory of God and for the power of the Kingdom. That means we go out and heal the sick, bind the wounds of the broken hearted, lift up those who have fallen prey to predators, we do all the things we witnessed Jesus doing. We pray like he did and we do what he did and we believe in this eternal life that he speaks of in his prayer.

Prayers are windows to ourselves

When we pray with the confidence that Jesus models for us, we see the window into ourselves. We begin to discover who we are through what we pray and how we pray. We discover the burdens that weigh us down, we can see the worries we carry for others, we notice the love we have for neighbors.

The more me offer ourselves to God in prayer our soul’s window opens more and more. We pay attention to our prayers, and we become transformed by them. The presence of God cannot be denied as we enter more and more into the way of prayer.

We will never give up saying all those complaints to God. Because, as I said, we get to see who we are when we pray.

“Why are we still fighting, and when is the hate going to stop?”

If we listen to ourselves we find out what our priorities are. God comfort the lady at the drugstore who just told me her husband left her. God find me a job so I can pay my electric bill. God fix my sister, she’s driving me crazy. Ok, God get with the program and bring us world peace.  

Prayer changes us.

Our words double back on us and they motivate us into action.

Prayer shows us exactly who we are.

It lifts us up out of our despair and carries us into discovering new ways.

We discover a power within ourselves that we did not know we had. It is the power of confidence, assurance, and courage.

In this continued discipline of prayer, not to air, but to the person of God through Christ, the nature of God’s presence becomes stronger. In prayer, we discover a relationship that builds stronger with each prayer we make.

Prayers are a window into the World.

Jesus prays for his disciples who are to remain there on earth after he has returned to God the Father and Christ is concerned for them. ‘Keep them safe’ he implores, for they have an ongoing task to do – they are to bear witness to his life, to his death, to his resurrection – to the message that God in Christ brings love, forgiveness, healing, peace and hope to all humanity. (Church of Scotland-Sc011353)

And this is when prayer becomes even more real than ever. Because we are swung or slung full force out there to show what we believe without any hesitation or recoil. According to Jesus in his prayer humanity will continue to suffer and the disciples will need every ounce of strength and hope, and full presence of God to bring in the Kingdom of peace.

We have a job to do and it starts with prayer. Amen.

Resources: Working Preacher Karoline Lewis; (Church of Scotland-Sc011353)

On the Rock I stand

Sermon Acts 17:22-31 May 21, 2017 6^th Sunday of Easter

On the Rock I stand

Last year Mike and I had the opportunity to visit Athens. It was important to me to find the areas of the city where we assume the Apostle Paul walked and preached and shared the good news of God’s grace.

We made it to Mars hill. It is also known as the Areopagus. It is the place where Socrates stood before the council to argue his philosophies. It didn’t end well for him.

This hill was the place where the court or council could summon anyone to appear. No charges or reasons had to be given for them to be called before the leaders. This was not an invitation but a command.

It is amazing to stand on that rock with the acropolis in the back drop and the view of the sprawling city below. It is an incredible rock as it juts up above all its surroundings as if it is a pedestal for speakers through the ages. For more than 500 years this rock was the place for many speeches, arguments, debates, and defenses.

 

Monica on Mars Hill August 2016

Paul wandered through the streets of Athens and saw the most astounding sculptures and art and temples to not just one god, but many gods. As he walked he discovered a statue dedicated to the ‘unknown god.’ It was at this moment that he knew how he would share the good news with the people of Athens.

I believe that is our struggle today.

How do we share the news of our faith in Jesus the Christ with others?

How do we offer the opportunity to engage in church to those who have never been?

How do we encourage a life in community when there are so many communities to choose from?

If we think we are the only people in the 21^st century facing the challenge of church over other things we may have forgotten our history. There has always, since its beginning, been a challenge to the church to grow.

(Paul’s story in Athens only magnifies how hard it was to find the nugget of common ground to invite people to engage and become followers of Jesus.)

The Barna Group Inc. study on the State of the Church in April 2016 showed that 73% of Americans identify as Christians and 20% as no faith at all. Of those 73% Christians 34% practice their faith by going to church. Of those who go to church only 8% go to mega churches of more than 1000 members. 46% of church goers go to churches of less than 100 members. It tells me that the small church is the place to be for those who are choosing to practice their Christian faith.

I have said it for fifteen years now, (after studying the churches for three years in the 90’s) the future of the church is not in a big movement, or a program, or an epiphany of a ‘new’ way of worship, music, or education; but the way of the future for the church is rooted in the power of the small church to sustain, nourish, and flourish among its people and community for the sake of the grace of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Like Paul, we have a story to tell!

There is flood of competition out there and most of it is good.

So, how do we choose one good over another good?

Paul walked around and took note of all the opportunities open to the people of Athens, they had universities ( the finest ever known), they had stores, and markets, temples, and books.

We too, here in America have much that shows who we are as we walk through the cities. We have statues, and stores, markets and paintings, and books that show we are a diverse people and we are a religious people.

It is in this common grounding we can begin to share the good news of who we are in Christ with one another.

Paul’s desire was to open the flood gates of God’s love and grace so that all may know God through Christ who loved even him.

Paul addressed the people of Athens and acknowledged their spiritual diversity.

He spoke to them not as a knowledgeable Jew talking about Jewish Law but he invoked Greek philosophical insights to express Christian theological truths.

He didn’t deny the diversity or

the variety of displays of faith,

but pointed out two aspects

that are the strong foundation of all of them;

God is Creator of all things and

humanity is united in one another.

Paul entered the community to speak to all the people,

not just those who were exactly like him.

He took a risk to reach out diversely to everyone-to the leaders,

the shop keepers,

the merchants,

the educated professors,

the philosophers,

the street people,

the poor,

the rich-

he spoke to them all.

Paul was called a babbler by the elite. He did not have the same skills of debate as they had. They actually thought he was nuts. And yet, there was an intrigue about him and his message. And so, he ended up before the court, the council standing there on the hill dedicated to Mars, also known as the Areopagus.

I’m not sure if he realized he was on trial.

I’m not sure if he realized this was the place

where many before here were sentenced to death.

But, there he stood and there he won the hearts of a few. We would like to think that everyone who heard the good news of love and grace would jump to the invitation.

But, the truth is the church grew by a few followers here and there.

Occasionally there was a moment where thousands followed,

but mostly it was a steady growth of believers

from one town to the next.

Paul stood on that rock and spoke to the reality of the people gathered.

He spoke to what they knew and understood.

He spoke to their world.

He spoke to their faith.

He respected them.

He acknowledged their intellect and their ways.

There was the altar to the ‘unknown god’ probably set up as the catch all in case there was a god that was forgotten. Or perhaps it was set up as a god of universal nature, to respect the one or ones whose names they did not yet know.

Paul uses this universality to share about the God of heaven and earth; God the Creator.

He touched on the basic philosophical beliefs of Pythagoras and Zeno, when he stated that God created the world and does not live in temples. This is common ground for the people of Athens. He continued to share about the nature of humanity.

Paul let them know that God created humanity to live together,

to seek after God,

and to reach out

and find God.

“God is not far from each of us. God is near us. God is with us.”

The quote from Epimenides,

“for in him we live and move and have our being;” touched those who heard Paul.

This quote is in our confessions today.

The words of the greats were and are used to affirm our faith not deny it.

The words of the greats demonstrate our commonality

and our grounding as people of God.

The sum of all human existence is in relationship to God and one another.

Paul continued with the established common ground to introduce Jesus, faith in Jesus, the power of the resurrection, and God’s grace through him.

Paul stood boldly on the rock before the council and offered the hospitality of God that invites all people from the diversity of the world to discover Christ Jesus.

Paul offered grace.

He opened the doors of the sanctuary of God

and invited them to realize how they, as all of humanity,

belong to God and one another.

This is what we all hope for.

We hope for the chance to open the doors of our sanctuary

as an invitation for all to enter.

We hope to share the grace of God in how we include and invite

everyone as diverse as we can find in our community.

We hope that we can find common ground

as we speak to those we engage with each day.

We hope that we can open our doors to those

who seek to find God.

We hope that we can open our doors

to those who need a place of refuge, of quiet, of rest.

We hope we can offer a place of acceptance.

Let us be committed to the power of God

at work within us to learn, to worship,

to pray, to love, to share, to invite.

Amen.

Resources: BarnaGroup.com 

Open Gates

Sermon John 10:1-10 May 7, 2017 4^th Sunday of Easter year A (Portions of this sermon first preached in 2011)

Open Gates

Fences, walls, dams, sandbags, barricades, all do well at keeping things we don’t want out.

These keep bunnies from eating our vegetables, they keep out the cold drafts, they hold back water, and they prevent people from going too close to an obstacle. But they also protect the things inside the barrier.

The Bible uses walls and barriers as illustrations all the time.

God is the One who holds fast to the children God calls by name. God keeps them within the walls of security, the walls of God’s covenant love.

I remember when we had our French scouts and later our French youth group come to America; one of the first things that visually stuck out to them, was the lack of fenced yards.

They kept saying, “All these houses next to each other and no fence, no wall?”

I realized that in the towns and cities we had lived in overseas, all the yards were marked clearly with a perimeter of some sort-wall, fence, or bushes-there was no doubt where one person’s property began and the other’s stopped.

Unlike the US- in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and other ancient places- cities, towns and villages were protected by walls to keep out invaders and those who would do harm.

Here in John 10, we notice (as we do throughout Scripture) that fences, sheep, gates, and shepherds were all a part of daily life.

In the Old Testament, we first see God introduced as a shepherd to Moses. In Genesis 48:15 Moses calls God the Shepherd who has been with him all his life. In Numbers 27:17 Moses appoints Joshua to succeed him because the people will not be like sheep without a shepherd. Moses declares that Joshua is to go out and come in before them. He is to be one who will lead them out and bring them in.

Psalm 121 God is the One who guards our coming in and our going out.

It is in this context that Jesus speaks.

The people of God belonged to God and no one or no ‘thing’ was going to separate them from the power of God’s love.

In Scripture we learn, there are always those who would try to steal away God’s people. Throughout Old Testament stories God’s people were wooed away by golden images, ephods, Asherah poles, wild ways, and doubts of God’s love.

As consistent as the people were in departing from God, so even more consistent was God’s seeking them out to return them to the fold.

Even, though most of us are not familiar with this business of sheep and shepherds we’ve seen pictures, stain glassed windows, and coloring pages, all showing the gentle Jesus as a gentle shepherd. We see him holding a lamb in his arms and carrying a staff. These images conveyed a kind and caring Jesus who loved all of creation and dared to love even the smallest and most helpless of all.

So, when we get to this part about Jesus claiming to be the gate, it throws us into a tailspin.

Jesus is supposed to be the one who brings everyone into a life of freedom.

He is the one who brings the story of Exodus forward into the lives of the Gentiles and all humanity.

These words from Jesus did not set well with me.

So, once again we meet the exclusive Jesus?

Is that who he is saying he is?

Is this there where Christians go around pointing fingers at people saying, “I’m in and you’re not-nanananana!”

Is this where churchgoers, say to others, “I’m special and you’re not.”

It all seems so country club like.

I’ve got a membership that you don’t have and so I’m better than you.

I’ll have to say, this is the stuff that kept me far away from this believing in Jesus.

It seemed like a rather cruel set of folks.

I certainly knew I wasn’t good enough for a group that acted like they had it all together. I knew that I was far from having it together.

Yes, gates, to me, were very negative.

The images of gates that came to mind were those TSA booths in the airports in those early days when they were afraid of anyone and we were afraid of them.

Or, those border patrol crossings through newly organized countries, where no matter who you were, you were labeled suspicious.

I saw the giant gates to the castles in Europe, huge doors that hide secret courtyards.

I saw cattle gates and garden gates.

I viewed all of these as a bunch of rules and mean people whose only interest was to make life difficult for everyone who dared to approach their gates.

But then I taught a class, using the book called Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend. This study talked about the boundaries that God placed as a positive wonderful gift.

The authors refer to a fence around us as God’s way of claiming us and declaring that we are unique and we are God’s special creation, not more special than my neighbor, but just as special.

A fence is a way we can protect ourselves from those who would try to harm us.

This fence is the ability to set limits with others, to declare what is rightfully ours, and the ability to say no.

The fence is the boundary of love out of which we operate in order to show love to others.

This boundary of love is the corral where we are surrounded by the safety of Jesus.

A special space that we get to choose the size of it.

A space that helps us hold it together

without the threat of somebody coming in

to steal our integrity of humanity.

Jesus is the shepherd who claims us as his own.

His protective fence, his corral for the sheep, wraps us tight, or loose, depending on those who would come in the night trying to steal from us.

It protects us from harmful words,

or abuse,

or all those hurtful things from the world out there.

He is standing at the gate calling out to all and will not stop calling their names until all have heard him. He will not stop until all turn to follow him.

This gives me hope and joy to know that I belong to a God that has not and will not leave anyone out.

That is why we have the 23^rd psalm as our reading today.

The Hebrew word in the verse that God follows us all the days of our lives

actually means to pursue us.

It means that God will never give up on us

no matter how much we run.

We might be afraid for those of our loved ones

who seem to have gone a different way.

Remember the pursuit of God.

Know that God will remain with us

coming after us

with love

all the days of our lives.

Cloud and Townsend continue in their teaching to say that a fence needs a gate.

The gate is the way to freedom.

By the gate, we learn to open our hearts to others.

We learn to open up to God.

We learn to risk saying yes without losing our character or our sense of self.

The gate provides for freedom to explore and venture out; to try new ways, and discover new opportunities with others.

Jesus is the gate to freedom.

Jesus is the gate that opens up the community and grants access to God.

Through the gate of Christ,

God’s people discover immeasurable grace

and unconditional love.

Jesus is the gate so we don’t have to be.

This text follows the healing of the blind man who was barred from entrance into the Temple because of his ‘sin’ of disability.

Jesus makes it clear that disability is not a sin.

Jesus makes it clear that there are no barriers to entering into the sanctuary of God. Jesus makes it clear that all those with infirmities are welcome in the house of God.

Yes, Jesus is the gate that makes it possible for all to enter in.

By his grace, by his love and by his continuous calling

he has made room for everyone,

short or tall,

blue or green,

one eyed or peg legged.

We don’t have to be the gate that decides who can come in and worship here because Jesus has declared that is his job.

The Gate brings us to freedom.

In this freedom, Christ guides us to green pastures and brings us into safe community. Amen.

 Note: Following this sermon, communion was served. AT the invitation to the Table, it was announced that our denomination (PCUSA) has declared as part of our new discipline, our new order of worship, there is nothing that can be a barrier to the Table of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those baptized or not may come to the Table-this opening of the gate of freedom for pastors to serve, allows the Spirit to transform those who receive the bread and cup  of Christ. 

Graveside service for Baby Faith

It has been over a year now since we lost our precious granddaughter Baby Faith. I never knew how much her little life would continue to impact us everyday. My daughter and I have since written a book for children. She has written several blog articles at her blog site: https://sandhillcranelove.wordpress.com/

And even now I realize the more we write and the more we make resources available the more help this provides for other mothers and families who have experienced loss.

There were two most important gift lessons we learned. 1. Always use Baby's name. even if it is too difficult to name baby encourage this to happen-the hospital was so wonderful in making sure this was done.
2. Make sure a funeral, a prayer, a special acknowledgement is done. All this has made the difference in the months and now the year since.

Here is a sample service. It was done on the rural property of my daughter's family. May God's grace, mercy and strength be with you.

Service of Witness to the Resurrection

W

Faith Elisabeth Rodgers

February 10, 2016

February 13, 2016

Welcome

Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.

We gather here today to bring honor to the little life of our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, and child of God, Faith Elisabeth Rodgers.

We only knew her as our hope and joy, the anticipation of all the good God has to offer us in new life.

We are here under this treasured tree, on this land, this solid ground, this earth, to which we remember holds us all together. From dust we were made and to dust we shall return. Here this space has been special and so under the canopy of this tree and the canopy of God’s love we gather now in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen

Scripture

Psalm 139:1-3;13-18

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
² You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from far away.
³ You search out my path and my lying down,
    and are acquainted with all my ways.

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
¹⁵     My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
    all the days that were formed for me,
    when none of them as yet existed.
¹⁷ How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
    I come to the end^[a]—I am still with you.

Mark 10:13-16

¹³ People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Words from the Family

Our hearts are filled with the loss of the hopes and dreams we held for the life of Baby Faith. Yet, we hold to the truth that a mother and father hold their children’s hands for but a short while and their hearts forever.

Prayer

Loving God,

Your beloved Son took children into his arms and blessed them. Give us grace that we may entrust

Baby Faith Elisabeth Rodgers to your never failing love and care. Comfort us in our sorrow; strengthen us with hope; and breathe peace into our troubled hearts. Assure us that the love in which we rejoiced for a time is not lost. The love we hold here together as a family unites us forever with each other and with you.

In our loneliness, may we remember Baby Faith in love until the eternal morning breaks.

Through Christ, in Christ, always surrounded and wrapped together in the loving arms of Jesus. Amen.

Poem

I give you this one thought to keep

I am still with you-I do not sleep

I am a thousand winds that blow

I am the diamond glints on snow

I am the sunlight on ripened grain

I am the gentle autumn rain

When you waken in the morning hush,

I am the swift, uplifting rush,

Of quiet birds in circled flight.

I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not think of me as gone-I am still

With you-in each new dawn.

Commendation

You only are immortal, the creator and maker of all. We are mortal, formed of the earth, and to the earth we shall return. This you ordained when you created us, saying, ‘You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” All of us go down to the dust; yet even at the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Give space, O Christ, to your child Baby Faith, with all your saints, where there is neither pain, nor sorrow nor sighing, but life everlasting.

Into your hand, O merciful Savior, we commend your child, Baby Faith Elisabeth Rodgers. Acknowledge we humbly pray, a sheep of your fold, a lamb of your flock, a baby of your own redeeming. Receive her into your arms of mercy, into the blessed rest of eternal peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light. Amen.

Benediction

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

God Revealed

Sermon Luke 24:13-35 April 30, 2017 Third Sunday after Easter

God Revealed

When have we experienced God revealed to us in such a way that it changed our thinking, our behavior, and/or our faith? (Taken from Luther Seminary ‘Preach This Week)

The road to Emmaus is seven miles. Now consider the distance between Onancock and Accomac it is four miles; or Accomac and Daughtery it is about three miles. To us today this seems ridiculous to have churches so close together. But, the reason we have churches in all of these towns is that most people used to walk to church. It took more than an hour to walk from Onancock to Accomac. It wasn’t until Henry Ford’s affordable car that the way to church changed. So, in the 19^th century each little town did their best to create an opportunity for worship that was not a hardship.

I’ll never forget the years our family didn’t have a car. We would sometimes complain and say to our father how it would be so nice to get somewhere without walking. My dad would respond with his wonderful wit, “Walking is good for the body. Walking is good for your system. Walking we discover so many things, and even each other.” As children, we would look at him as if he was crazy and looked forward to a day that we would have a little less discovery in our lives.

When the car arrived in our lives everything changed. It was around 1966 or 1967 when we got a car, a telephone, and a TV. Our behaviors, our attitudes, and even our thinking all changed. When we would take the car to go somewhere we would tease our father and ask, ‘whatever happened to the idea that walking is good for the body?’ He laughed and would say the car is now a healthy way to go.

For today’s generation, the greatest change they can attest to is the work of the phone, tablet computers all of which again has changed our thinking, behaviors, and attitudes.

The road to Emmaus was a road that led to change.

It was a road where what was, would never be again.

There was no going back to the way things were before.

We may yearn for life the way it was and some people try to construct their world in a bubble by going ‘off grid’.

But, we all know that is more living in denial than it is living within the circumstances that our world moves into.

It was along the road that Cleopas and the other were walking and discussing all that had happened when Jesus shows up.

They do not recognize him.

He asks them what has happened and they look dumbfounded that he was unaware of the headline news of the week. Jesus was handed over to die!

“And we had hoped that he would be the one to redeem.”

Their hopes for a future different from the one they had been living had been dashed.

They were utterly devastated and so they did the only thing humans know to do is to go back to what they knew before.

These men were headed home

away from Jerusalem,

away from the dreams they had,

away from the place where it all fell apart.

Jerusalem was the city where all the dreams and hopes of a messiah were to take place and the road they had been traveling on led them all together there.

Now, the only thing to do was to turn

away from the road that led them instead to disaster.

There was no hope and no chance of change.

There was no way to see anything good.

What they had expected did not happen and with the death of Jesus would never happen in their lifetime.

Even if a bunch of women came

and said he was alive

and he was no longer in the tomb

they did not see him.

It cannot be true until they see him.

Jesus must be revealed in the way the disciples expected or else Jesus was not alive.

We are the same way.

God must be revealed in the way we expect-within our own human limitations-or God is not there.

And perhaps that is our need for today as we read this story again this year. Where and when is, has, will God show up. And if so what is, has, will it do for or to me?

This story we hear on the road to Emmaus is the most profound resurrection story for all of us here in the millennium after the resurrection.

Because we, like these disciples walk

away from Jerusalem on the days after Easter

and say to each other, ‘we didn’t see him.’

‘Our hearts are disappointed because we had hoped by coming to church that we would see him, that something in us would change.’

‘We had hoped he would be there and we would be redeemed,

but even in the fanfare, we couldn’t find him.’

There on the Emmaus road, as these disciples walked there became a sense of something familiar. It couldn’t be explained, but there was a ‘burning in their hearts’.

 A memory was stirring in them.

Memories are valuable ways of kindling hope.

Memories of smell, touch, sounds, all stir in us.

They return us to a time we know and can remember as real and true.

These memories are most often built on relationships.

Jesus was real to them and their relationship with him was built on their faith in him and their hope. When he died, they lost every part of their faith and hope. How can lost faith and hope be rekindled?

Here on the road, the sounds, and the voice, the cadence, all begin to stir within and draw back to a time of faith and hope.

Jesus is walking along the road with us today.

This road to Emmaus still exists as each of us travels.

Jesus is talking to us and stirring within us memories that remind us of hope and begin to draw us back to faith.

Jesus is accompanying us even or perhaps especially when we say in our consternation, everyone is a liar, even when we are greatly afflicted.

Jesus is in the midst of it.

God keeps our faith for us when we cannot keep it for ourselves.

The stirrings of what they heard were enough to ignite hospitality-to open the door-to open the heart-to open the possibility to something new or renewed.

When we choose to open the door of grace through welcome we open the door of recognizing all we could not see or believe. What actions have we taken to open our hearts and minds to allow God to be revealed to us?

We only have to let go of telling our minds our expectation of Jesus.

Then we can invite him in to sit at our table and let the conversation lead to the revelation of his love.

When Jesus blessed and broke the bread before the eyes of the disciples, the memory of him brought forward the reality of all of his promises.

When we invite him at table with us the resurrection surprise,

the memory of all we have experienced in faith comes tumbling forward,

we are renewed,

we are filled with hope again.

And this time the revelation moves us to see, think, act, and be different.

Jesus was there present at the table with those two disciples.

There at the table, He became the host and he became the living God fully present, fully revealed.

May our tables wherever they may be, our communion tables at church, with strangers in coffee shops, at home, at the park, may they be moments of Jesus becoming the host, fully present in resurrection glory.

In that moment, for the disciples, their thinking, their behavior, and their faith was changed.

They got up and ran back to Jerusalem. They got back on the road that took them back to where their hopes had led them. Their faith carried their legs as quickly as they could go. The news of Jesus with them gave them what they needed to go and tell the story-the good news.

May we have the gift that each year when we travel this road to Emmaus God is revealed in a way that changes all of who we are so we can change the world for God’s glory. In our heart, Lord, be glorified. Amen.

P.S. Perhaps in Christ’s church today, people are walking home along the road after worship and saying to one another, “Were not our hearts burning as the Word was opened before us?”

Resources: Feasting on the Word. Luther Seminary-Preach This week.

Jesus is Alive, Surprise!

Sermon Matthew 28:1-10 April 16, 2017 Easter Sunday

                                                Sermon: Jesus is Alive, Surprise!

A friend of mine (Jo Ann Staebler) said,

“The Easter gospel begins with great grief.”

At first I thought, “No way. Easter is a time of joy. There is no grief.” And then I realized, “Just a minute-of course it begins with great grief.’

The women were on their way to the tomb where Jesus lay. And these women were deep in grief. The women have gone into muscle memory mode. They are going through the motions of grief that all do when tragedy, death, destruction or trauma strike.

And it is also true that it is darkest before the dawn.

And our greatest fears rise up in those darkest hours.

Everyone was in shock and they did not know what to do without their Lord.

Their faith had been crushed, beaten, and dismantled by the death of the Savior. And they were very afraid of what would happen next.

In our journey of faith we too have faced times when everything we believed was crushed, beaten, and dismantled.

We have been in dark hours where we did not know what to do or what to say.

We too were functioning in muscle memory mode.

We too were going through the motions just to get through the day only to have to repeat those motions for more days than we could remember.

The gospel lesson of Easter pulls us into all the

grief and drama of the power of loss.

And then while we are still caught in the challenge of grief,

God astounds us with the BIG SURPRISE!

Jesus is not here.

He is ALIVE!

It is a surprise beyond our imagination.

It is a surprise that once again startles our faith!

He is alive shocks us as much as his death did.

It is too much to bear.

Now what do we do? He is ALIVE!

How do we act? He is ALIVE!

And how do we share this news? He is ALIVE!

Jesus said he would return again, but how many really believed it would happen like this?

He said it over and over again.

But how well did they listen?

I know my husband is always trying to get me to listen-to really hear what he is saying.

I know I’m told things for my own good over and over again-but I don’t seem to hear it-even when my life depends on it.

Jesus spoke in riddles. Some we can give the disciples a break-maybe not judge them so harshly. The parables of Jesus were hard to follow…

Remember the one when he was telling Nicodemus about being born again. We, like the disciples, scratched our heads wondering how this renewal of life can actually happen. We know our bodies don’t go through the birth process more than once. So how can new life be born in us?

Jesus was full of surprises alright.

He had a way of making food appear out of a couple slices of bread. He touched people and they were healed. He taught the leaders of the synagogue things about God no one had ever known. He walked on water.

He raised Lazarus from the dead…wow, he really was full of surprises.

He really did do things beyond anyone’s imagination.

He really did do miracles.

Perhaps, then his rising from the dead is true too.

And if this surprise is true then we can remember all the things he did.

We can talk about them to people.

Jesus didn’t do all these surprising things to entertain us.

He did them to transform us; to change us; to make us new.

Just as the caterpillar crawled into the tomb of its chrysalis and rose from it as a magnificent butterfly; so Jesus has risen-magnificent from the depths of his tomb. Transformed. And so he declares we are too.

You see, in dying, God is making sure there is rising!

For if God goes down to the dead and rises to new life;

rest assured God has made the way for us who die

                                              to rise to new life!

We can be assured and raised up with strength as we witness the surprise and wonder of the Resurrection;

of new life;

of a new creation!

This is our hope!

Believing in this surprise, this miracle of God, fills us with new life.

We rise up today filled with joy and wonder.

God makes all things new through the power of the resurrection born in us.

Jesus has risen to new life so we too rise to new life.

It is the miracle that grants us the power to change not only who we are but the world around us.

SO we wonder again,

what do we do?

How do we act?

What news do we share?

We go out from here today rejoicing in the strength and courage of the Savior born anew in us.

We go out from this place nourished and fed at Table so we can do the things Jesus did.

We can make the abundance of food appear from two slices of bread. We have the capacity to offer our extras to others in need.

We can share the abundance of our joy with our neighbors.

We can take the abundance of our knowledge and offer to help others learn and live. Just like those who volunteer with the literacy council, we offer the abundance of our knowledge through tutoring, mentoring, teaching.

We can take the abundance of our courage and stand in the gap for those who can’t.

The list goes on and on of what we can do.

And how can we share this great surprise?

Through sheer faith in believing. We may not understand it, and we may not be able to explain it, but, we can believe it by the evidence of God’s love within us. It is real because God’s love is real.

Friends let the warmth of love flow through you today.

Let the love you cannot imagine surprise you.

Let the power of the resurrection surprise rise up in you.

Go now and live. Go now and give.

Jesus is alive-surprise! Amen.

This is the good news which we have received, in which we stand, and by which we are saved, if we hold fast: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, and that he appeared first to the women, then to Peter, and to the twelve, and then to many faithful witnesses. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus Christ is the first and the last, the beginning and the end; he is our Lord and our God