The essence of this church is not about bricks.
Its not about mortar.
Its
about – and its always been about – men and women subject to the living
lord and engaged in ministry to one another and to the world!
Because we tend to forget, I remind us at every chance I get,
the obvious, really:
we really do drink from wells that others have dug.
I often think of those 26 folks that gathered here in this very room on that October evening in 1926 and dedicated themselves to the building of a Presbyterian congregation here in Drexel Hill.
Already, even though they knew their purpose to be to build a new congregation,
it was obvious to them that they had an opportunity to drink from a well that others dug long long before them.
I doubt that any of them had any idea where Oxford, Pennsylvania, was.
But, they were aware that a Presbyterian church had closed there and the property was sold,
and people of faith decided to use the proceeds of that sale to purchase this property and to build this building (this very building in which we meet this morning).
I don’t think there was a thought of a debt,
but of a legacy –
a legacy to be remembered,
a legacy to be celebrated.
Whether they articulated it, or not,
whether it was ever talked about, or not,
I think they would understand the truth of Peter’s words in our reading this morning.
We come here today with all kinds of emotion.
This room abounds with memories today.
And, I would suggest that most of what we remember is not about the bricks and mortar –
not about the stones and lumber –
that make up the buildings that have constructed here.
Most of what we remember,
most of what really matters to us,
is in relation to what happened (or happens) within the physical building,
and in relation to specific people that we encountered here.
We may call this a house of God,
and, like the Psalmist, we may feel gladness when we come here,
but, our New Testament faith is about something else.
At this church’s 50'th anniversary in 1977, Pastor Jack Harvey reminded the congregation of Peter’s remarks that we are not defined by bricks and mortar.
Never have been.
And, certainly, not now.
Peter envisions a totally new idea – for them and for us –
the new idea was – and is –
that the new temple,
the new church,
is built with living stones.
Each of us, as people of faith, fashion the church around who we are – and what we do.
Every chance I get, I have tried to remind us that our church is not this building of stones and concrete and glass and steel, no . . .
For some 87 years, this church has stood built on living stones –
flesh and blood people who make up this spiritual house of God –
celebrating the Gospel in the midst of the people.
The essence of this church is not about bricks.
Its not about mortar.
Its about – and its always been about – men and women subject to the living lord and engaged in ministry to one another and to the world!
From the beginning, and throughout its history,
this church was composed of living stones –
people who have given themselves to the God who has called them to a ministry of compassion and concern:
people in whose hearts and lives the Kingdom of God has been built.
I pray that this essence never gets lost.
Wherever we go from here, may each of us continue to celebrate the Gospel in the midst of the people,
proclaiming the wonderful acts of God.
For, the word is that God breathes through living stones –
and wherever the Spirit is breathing, there is life and hope – even after 87 years.
Each of you are living stones
with which this church has thrived –
through which the presence of Christ gets expressed –
As long as you are here,
as long as God uses you to minister to others,
as long as God’s breath resides in you and me,
you will continue to be a part of God’s work for time to come.
When the inquiry is made,
“Dr. Living-stone, I presume,” let each of us answer,
“Yes! That’s it!”
As you and I gather around the Lord’s Table today, let us remember the souls of all those who have gone before us.
And let us pray that the same Spirit that was with them and guided them in their endeavors,
be with us and guide us to further give witness to the presence of Christ in the world around us today – in our days and times –
wherever we,
whatever we do,
whatever we say.
Amen.
The Congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church heard these words during the final worship service November 24, 2013.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Keys to the Kingdom: The Fairness of God
God is not fair with us.
ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW HARD – OR HOW LONG – YOU WORK!
Quite frankly, and quite openly, this story puts us squarely at odds with the rest of the world around us.
It is possible, and quite likely, to live your entire life and never grasp the truth about this story.
But, it is a key to the kingdom of God –
the kin-dom of God.
It is what separates us from the others.
Matthew 20:1-16
We’ve all heard it before, haven’t we?
It's not fair!
And, we know what’s fair, don’t we?
· She got more candy than I did!
· His piece of cake is bigger than mine!
· She got more presents than I got!
· My friends get to go to the dance and I have to baby-sit!
It's not fair!
Sound’s familiar, doesn’t it?
Our kids are usually real quick to notice fairness, aren’t they?
(especially when they think they are the ones being unfaired against, right?)
They are quick to react when someone else is being treated better, aren’t they?
Where do you suppose they got that notion that things should be fair?
· I've been with the company 20 years. I have all the experience, and then the boss's nephew gets the promotion.
· We both put in 8 hours, but when we get home, I still have to get supper ready and do the laundry while you sit around and watch TV!
· It's been beautiful all week, and then on Saturday, my only chance to play golf, it rains!
· Every year my raise gets eaten up by inflation. I'll never get ahead.
· We both come from the same family, but she ends up with a double portion of the inheritance.
The truth of the matter is, our kids get their notions of what’s fair – and what’s not from us.
All they have to do is listen to us.
The agents for professional sports people have this down to a “T”, don’t they?
My client should be paid as much or more than other players of his position and experience.
Actually, experience doesn’t have much to with it as fresh players learn to hold out signing a contract until they are paid more than anyone else.
And, our kids learn it.
And, now there's this story that’s sure to offend everyone – from starchy uptights to t-shirters.
Any United Statesian who loves the democratic way of life, like most of us when we hear this story, likely wants to cry out, "HEY THAT'S NOT FAIR."
Indeed, this story is perceived by most people as one of the most difficult things to hear from Jesus.
It is an important story, because Matthew identifies it as one of the keys of the kingdom.
For most of us, it is even more difficult to hear than last week’s story about forgiveness being one of the keys of the kingdom.
In the parable that Jesus told about the workers in the vineyard, we have no trouble identifying with the laborers who worked all day, right?
Here they were, at the crack of dawn, in the hiring hall ready to go.
The farmer needs to get the grapes in, so he promises them a good day's pay.
They put in a full 12 hours, and work through the heat of the day.
By then they are hungry, they’re tired, they’re sore. But they expect to be well rewarded.
Others had slept in, maybe fighting a hangover, maybe just plain lazy.
They, didn't even bother to show up till later in the morning or even not until the middle of the afternoon.
But, the owner needs workers.
The grapes are ripe.
He needs everyone he can get.
So even the late-comers are hired.
Finally it's 6:00, the day is over, the work is done. The workers line up,
the last hired are the first to be paid.
They get an envelope and inside are fifteen $10 bills.
They can't believe it.
$150 for an hours work!
They were ecstatic.
Those where hired at 3:00 - found in their envelopes $150! What good fortune!
As the line shortens, those hired in the morning are anticipating a big bonus, right?
If he pays $150 bucks to those losers he picked up in the afternoon, just think what we're gonna get!
But each one receives the same, fifteen $10 bills. Better than average pay for a day laborer, no doubt about it, but. but. it's not fair!
We worked all day! It's not fair!
---------
So, there's this a psychotherapis, Albert Ellis, who has a theory that all kinds of mental illness and a lot of the conflict and turmoil that develops in our relationships can often be traced back to the things we tell our selves.
The things we accept as true without ever really looking at them from the perspective of reality.
But we continue to tell ourselves these stupid things, and then get all bent out of shape when things don't happen the way we think they should.
Dr. Ellis, after spending countless hours in psychotherapy with hundreds of clients, and listening to all the problems that people have,
says there are three basic stupid things people tell them selves that end up causing all kinds of problems in life.
They are:
● Everybody should like me.
● People should be different (people should behave the way I thing they should.)
● The world should be fair.
And, the doctor says,
If you accept those statements as true,
[as] the guiding principles of your life,
you're in for a lot of hurt,
[you're in for] a lot of disappointment,
[you're in for] a lot of frustration.
All we have to do is think a little, and we soon realize that not everyone is going to like me, and that's OK.
There are some people I don't like.
Why should I expect everyone to like me?
And, people are going to be who they are, and I cannot change them.
So why should I get all upset when people don't act the way I think they should.
Do I always do what others tell me to do?
And finally, anyone who has lived any number of years knows that the world is not fair.
Never has been, never will be.
Things happen all the time that are just not fair. That's life, and complaining about it will not
change it.
The fact is that I am not God, and no matter how much I wish things were different, they are how they are.
The serenity prayer of Alcoholics Anonymous is especially appropriate as we deal with the things in life that upset us:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
To live that prayer is a big step toward mental health.
--------------------------
The second thing I would like to point out about this notion of fairness is that the only time we get upset about it is when we think we are the ones being treated unfairly, right?!
· If I get a bigger dish of ice cream than she did.
· If I got the promotion and he didn't.
· If it rained all week but cleared up just in time for the game on Saturday.
Do I complain how unfair it is?
Isn't it strange that when bad luck comes my way, it's unfair,
But when good fortune comes my way, it's because I deserve it, right?!
I earned it!
When you think of the story Jesus told, can you imagine those workers hired at 3:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon telling the owner that he is really being
unfair.
He shouldn't do this.
It's not fair to the others.
Hundreds and hundreds of blessings come our way each and every day.
· Every breath I take.
· Every beat of my heart.
· Every loved one that's a part of my life.
· Every day I live in this country.
· Every prayer I pray knowing that God hears.
Yet how often do I give God a second thought,
how often do I thank God from the depths of my heart?
And then one thing goes wrong, some illness or tragedy, and here we go accusing God:
"What did I do to deserve this?
Why are you doing this to me?
It's not fair!"
The point is, fair and unfair are relative terms, aren’t they?
It all depends on which side we're on.
And we need to be careful before we start crying "Unfair! Unfair!"
I love what the farmer said to those grumbling workers: "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?
Or are you envious, are you angry, because I am generous?'
------------------------
Finally, then, you know this is where we truly get to the heart of this parable, what this story is all about:
Jesus is telling us in this story that God does NOT treat us fairly.
We have to assume that the farmer represents God.
And what Jesus shows us here is that God does not treat us fairly.
God does not give us what we deserve.
And for that we can thank God from the bottom of our hearts, don’t you think?
Because if God treated us fairly and justly, then we would all be condemned, wouldn’t we?
We wouldn't have a hope in the world.
Who of us is perfect and deserves to stand before God on our own merits, on our own worthiness?
Not a single one of us.
Yes, we praise and thank God that we are not treated fairly. That God does not give us what we deserve.
Instead, as our people of our faith have taught throughout twenty centuries,
God treats us graciously, compassionately, mercifully, generously.
The parable that Jesus told is about the love and grace of God.
God is not fair with us.
God is generous toward us.
That's the point!
Because, really, we are not the ones who worked all day.
No, we're the ones who came on at about 5:00.
As soon as we start thinking the God owes us something, we're in deep trouble.
As soon as I start tallying up
· all the times I've been to church
· all the prayers I've said,
· all the time and money I've given,
· all the good deeds I've done.
And then expect God to reward me because I deserve it.
Then I've missed the point.
I've missed what it’s all about.
I've missed the grace of God.
The definition of grace is that God loves and forgives us even though we do not earn it,
even though we do not deserve it,
even though we can never pay for it,
even though we never merit it.
It is a gift, pure and simple.
-------------------
It's not fair!
It's not fair!
We hear it, we say it.
And it's true.
There is so much unfairness all around us and sometimes it hits home.
One of the biggest challenges we face as individuals, as a society, as a nation is to work for a more just and fair and equitable world.
And in the meantime, there will be times when we are the victims of that unfairness.
And there will be even more times when we receive gifts and blessings and mercy that we do not deserve.
But most importantly, remember:
· God is not fair with us.
· God gives us just the opposite of what we really deserve.
· God gives love, forgiveness, grace, generosity, and unconditional acceptance to each of us through this Jesus whom we call Christ.
JESUS IS SAYING TO US THAT ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW HARD – OR HOW LONG – YOU WORK!
That's such a difficult concept for many of us to accept, isnt it?
We were taught that if we work hard we will get ahead.
If we work hard, our parents will be proud of us.
If we work hard, we will be good citizens,
good role models, – even good Christians.
And all of that is true, but our sacred writings proclaim that none of your good work will gain you entrance into the Kingdom of God.
And here we hear that you can't build up brownie points with God.
You mean, "All those years teaching that Sunday School class.
All those years tithing.
All those years sitting in those Board meetings.
And they haven't earned me a thing."
And that's true.
Hear the word of the Lord: if you were doing those things with the intent of buying off God, your efforts have been wasted.
Quite frankly, and quite openly, this story puts us squarely at odds with the rest of the world around us.
It is possible, and quite likely, to live your entire life and never grasp the truth about this story.
But, it is a key to the kingdom of God –
the kin-dom of God.
It is what separates us from the others.
C.S.Lewis, writes that “Christianity's unique contribution among [all] world religions is this notion that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more. . .
and [conversely] there is nothing we can do to make God love us less,'
There is a story found among many Native Americans:
that all people are born with two wolves inside of them.
One wolf is aggressive and likes to do harm,
while the other wolf is not aggressive and likes to spread love and compassion.
And these wolves are always fighting with each other inside of us.
And, ultimately, one always wins.
And which wolf wins out in your life,
depends upon which wolf you feed.
One of the most unfair events recorded in the Bible happened on Good Friday.
Besides Jesus being crucified, there was that thief on the cross next to him.
He was getting exactly what he deserved.
But he had the audacity to ask, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Talk about being hired at 5:00 in the afternoon!
This is more like 5:59!
And how does Jesus respond?
"Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise!"
· remember the thief on the cross,
· remember the workers hired late in the day,
· and thank God for God's love and grace that we celebrate today.
Thank God there is nothing fair about it.
Let’s all remember to feed the right wolf.
Amen
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service September 22, 2013.
www.ConnectOnLine.us
ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW HARD – OR HOW LONG – YOU WORK!
Quite frankly, and quite openly, this story puts us squarely at odds with the rest of the world around us.
It is possible, and quite likely, to live your entire life and never grasp the truth about this story.
But, it is a key to the kingdom of God –
the kin-dom of God.
It is what separates us from the others.
Matthew 20:1-16
We’ve all heard it before, haven’t we?
It's not fair!
And, we know what’s fair, don’t we?
· She got more candy than I did!
· His piece of cake is bigger than mine!
· She got more presents than I got!
· My friends get to go to the dance and I have to baby-sit!
It's not fair!
Sound’s familiar, doesn’t it?
Our kids are usually real quick to notice fairness, aren’t they?
(especially when they think they are the ones being unfaired against, right?)
They are quick to react when someone else is being treated better, aren’t they?
Where do you suppose they got that notion that things should be fair?
· I've been with the company 20 years. I have all the experience, and then the boss's nephew gets the promotion.
· We both put in 8 hours, but when we get home, I still have to get supper ready and do the laundry while you sit around and watch TV!
· It's been beautiful all week, and then on Saturday, my only chance to play golf, it rains!
· Every year my raise gets eaten up by inflation. I'll never get ahead.
· We both come from the same family, but she ends up with a double portion of the inheritance.
The truth of the matter is, our kids get their notions of what’s fair – and what’s not from us.
All they have to do is listen to us.
The agents for professional sports people have this down to a “T”, don’t they?
My client should be paid as much or more than other players of his position and experience.
Actually, experience doesn’t have much to with it as fresh players learn to hold out signing a contract until they are paid more than anyone else.
And, our kids learn it.
And, now there's this story that’s sure to offend everyone – from starchy uptights to t-shirters.
Any United Statesian who loves the democratic way of life, like most of us when we hear this story, likely wants to cry out, "HEY THAT'S NOT FAIR."
Indeed, this story is perceived by most people as one of the most difficult things to hear from Jesus.
It is an important story, because Matthew identifies it as one of the keys of the kingdom.
For most of us, it is even more difficult to hear than last week’s story about forgiveness being one of the keys of the kingdom.
In the parable that Jesus told about the workers in the vineyard, we have no trouble identifying with the laborers who worked all day, right?
Here they were, at the crack of dawn, in the hiring hall ready to go.
The farmer needs to get the grapes in, so he promises them a good day's pay.
They put in a full 12 hours, and work through the heat of the day.
By then they are hungry, they’re tired, they’re sore. But they expect to be well rewarded.
Others had slept in, maybe fighting a hangover, maybe just plain lazy.
They, didn't even bother to show up till later in the morning or even not until the middle of the afternoon.
But, the owner needs workers.
The grapes are ripe.
He needs everyone he can get.
So even the late-comers are hired.
Finally it's 6:00, the day is over, the work is done. The workers line up,
the last hired are the first to be paid.
They get an envelope and inside are fifteen $10 bills.
They can't believe it.
$150 for an hours work!
They were ecstatic.
Those where hired at 3:00 - found in their envelopes $150! What good fortune!
As the line shortens, those hired in the morning are anticipating a big bonus, right?
If he pays $150 bucks to those losers he picked up in the afternoon, just think what we're gonna get!
But each one receives the same, fifteen $10 bills. Better than average pay for a day laborer, no doubt about it, but. but. it's not fair!
We worked all day! It's not fair!
---------
So, there's this a psychotherapis, Albert Ellis, who has a theory that all kinds of mental illness and a lot of the conflict and turmoil that develops in our relationships can often be traced back to the things we tell our selves.
The things we accept as true without ever really looking at them from the perspective of reality.
But we continue to tell ourselves these stupid things, and then get all bent out of shape when things don't happen the way we think they should.
Dr. Ellis, after spending countless hours in psychotherapy with hundreds of clients, and listening to all the problems that people have,
says there are three basic stupid things people tell them selves that end up causing all kinds of problems in life.
They are:
● Everybody should like me.
● People should be different (people should behave the way I thing they should.)
● The world should be fair.
And, the doctor says,
If you accept those statements as true,
[as] the guiding principles of your life,
you're in for a lot of hurt,
[you're in for] a lot of disappointment,
[you're in for] a lot of frustration.
All we have to do is think a little, and we soon realize that not everyone is going to like me, and that's OK.
There are some people I don't like.
Why should I expect everyone to like me?
And, people are going to be who they are, and I cannot change them.
So why should I get all upset when people don't act the way I think they should.
Do I always do what others tell me to do?
And finally, anyone who has lived any number of years knows that the world is not fair.
Never has been, never will be.
Things happen all the time that are just not fair. That's life, and complaining about it will not
change it.
The fact is that I am not God, and no matter how much I wish things were different, they are how they are.
The serenity prayer of Alcoholics Anonymous is especially appropriate as we deal with the things in life that upset us:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
To live that prayer is a big step toward mental health.
--------------------------
The second thing I would like to point out about this notion of fairness is that the only time we get upset about it is when we think we are the ones being treated unfairly, right?!
· If I get a bigger dish of ice cream than she did.
· If I got the promotion and he didn't.
· If it rained all week but cleared up just in time for the game on Saturday.
Do I complain how unfair it is?
Isn't it strange that when bad luck comes my way, it's unfair,
But when good fortune comes my way, it's because I deserve it, right?!
I earned it!
When you think of the story Jesus told, can you imagine those workers hired at 3:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon telling the owner that he is really being
unfair.
He shouldn't do this.
It's not fair to the others.
Hundreds and hundreds of blessings come our way each and every day.
· Every breath I take.
· Every beat of my heart.
· Every loved one that's a part of my life.
· Every day I live in this country.
· Every prayer I pray knowing that God hears.
Yet how often do I give God a second thought,
how often do I thank God from the depths of my heart?
And then one thing goes wrong, some illness or tragedy, and here we go accusing God:
"What did I do to deserve this?
Why are you doing this to me?
It's not fair!"
The point is, fair and unfair are relative terms, aren’t they?
It all depends on which side we're on.
And we need to be careful before we start crying "Unfair! Unfair!"
I love what the farmer said to those grumbling workers: "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?
Or are you envious, are you angry, because I am generous?'
------------------------
Finally, then, you know this is where we truly get to the heart of this parable, what this story is all about:
Jesus is telling us in this story that God does NOT treat us fairly.
We have to assume that the farmer represents God.
And what Jesus shows us here is that God does not treat us fairly.
God does not give us what we deserve.
And for that we can thank God from the bottom of our hearts, don’t you think?
Because if God treated us fairly and justly, then we would all be condemned, wouldn’t we?
We wouldn't have a hope in the world.
Who of us is perfect and deserves to stand before God on our own merits, on our own worthiness?
Not a single one of us.
Yes, we praise and thank God that we are not treated fairly. That God does not give us what we deserve.
Instead, as our people of our faith have taught throughout twenty centuries,
God treats us graciously, compassionately, mercifully, generously.
The parable that Jesus told is about the love and grace of God.
God is not fair with us.
God is generous toward us.
That's the point!
Because, really, we are not the ones who worked all day.
No, we're the ones who came on at about 5:00.
As soon as we start thinking the God owes us something, we're in deep trouble.
As soon as I start tallying up
· all the times I've been to church
· all the prayers I've said,
· all the time and money I've given,
· all the good deeds I've done.
And then expect God to reward me because I deserve it.
Then I've missed the point.
I've missed what it’s all about.
I've missed the grace of God.
The definition of grace is that God loves and forgives us even though we do not earn it,
even though we do not deserve it,
even though we can never pay for it,
even though we never merit it.
It is a gift, pure and simple.
-------------------
It's not fair!
It's not fair!
We hear it, we say it.
And it's true.
There is so much unfairness all around us and sometimes it hits home.
One of the biggest challenges we face as individuals, as a society, as a nation is to work for a more just and fair and equitable world.
And in the meantime, there will be times when we are the victims of that unfairness.
And there will be even more times when we receive gifts and blessings and mercy that we do not deserve.
But most importantly, remember:
· God is not fair with us.
· God gives us just the opposite of what we really deserve.
· God gives love, forgiveness, grace, generosity, and unconditional acceptance to each of us through this Jesus whom we call Christ.
JESUS IS SAYING TO US THAT ENTRANCE INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW HARD – OR HOW LONG – YOU WORK!
That's such a difficult concept for many of us to accept, isnt it?
We were taught that if we work hard we will get ahead.
If we work hard, our parents will be proud of us.
If we work hard, we will be good citizens,
good role models, – even good Christians.
And all of that is true, but our sacred writings proclaim that none of your good work will gain you entrance into the Kingdom of God.
And here we hear that you can't build up brownie points with God.
You mean, "All those years teaching that Sunday School class.
All those years tithing.
All those years sitting in those Board meetings.
And they haven't earned me a thing."
And that's true.
Hear the word of the Lord: if you were doing those things with the intent of buying off God, your efforts have been wasted.
Quite frankly, and quite openly, this story puts us squarely at odds with the rest of the world around us.
It is possible, and quite likely, to live your entire life and never grasp the truth about this story.
But, it is a key to the kingdom of God –
the kin-dom of God.
It is what separates us from the others.
C.S.Lewis, writes that “Christianity's unique contribution among [all] world religions is this notion that there is nothing we can do to make God love us more. . .
and [conversely] there is nothing we can do to make God love us less,'
There is a story found among many Native Americans:
that all people are born with two wolves inside of them.
One wolf is aggressive and likes to do harm,
while the other wolf is not aggressive and likes to spread love and compassion.
And these wolves are always fighting with each other inside of us.
And, ultimately, one always wins.
And which wolf wins out in your life,
depends upon which wolf you feed.
One of the most unfair events recorded in the Bible happened on Good Friday.
Besides Jesus being crucified, there was that thief on the cross next to him.
He was getting exactly what he deserved.
But he had the audacity to ask, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
Talk about being hired at 5:00 in the afternoon!
This is more like 5:59!
And how does Jesus respond?
"Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise!"
· remember the thief on the cross,
· remember the workers hired late in the day,
· and thank God for God's love and grace that we celebrate today.
Thank God there is nothing fair about it.
Let’s all remember to feed the right wolf.
Amen
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service September 22, 2013.
www.ConnectOnLine.us
Saturday, May 4, 2013
It's About Mutual Aid
I think that this story is not so much about Peter bringing a dead woman back to life,
as it is about Dorcas and how she lived her life.
Within the body of Christ the rules are thrown out the window.
Mutual aid is an essential element of the Christian faith.
It's one of the building blocks of the Christian community.
It's found in the Old Testament – and the New Testament.
God's Word is directed toward the haves, with regard to the have-nots.
The message is always clear.
A way has to be found to take care of everyone
Exodus 20:12
Acts 9:36-39
When Tabitha died, her friends sent for the Apostle Peter.
When he arrived, people were quick to show him the same sorts of things.
As it says, All the widows were there weeping and wailing,
and they showed him the coats and clothes that Dorcas had made while she was still alive. (Acts 9:39).
Remember that widows in those days could not get jobs or take care of themselves.
They were dependant upon living relatives,
and if they had none, they were totally dependent on charity.
This doesn't mean the widows only thought of Dorcas in terms of what she had done for them.
It means they realized the relationship of receiving and giving had ended.
Now, in the verses I didn’t read, that appear right after what I did read,
Peter asks the ladies to leave the room,
and he escorts them out and shuts the door,
then he kneels by the bedside of the deceased and offers a prayer.
Then, the story goes, Peter turns to the lifeless body on the bed and says, “Tabitha, wake up!”
Witnesses say a miracle happened that day.
Tabitha opened her eyes,
looked around the room,
focused on Peter and sat up in bed.
She must of thought, “What is this strange man doing in my bedroom.”
He helped her out of the bed, and helped her walk to the door of the room.
Man, there was a party that night!
Most people focus on what Peter did when they read this.
But, I think that this story is not so much about Peter bringing a dead woman back to life,
as it is about Dorcas and how she lived her life.
It is about the tie that binds us together
becoming visible through the practice of mutual aid.
The thing about mutual aid is that mutual aid is about never having things work out evenly.
Within the body of Christ there is giving and receiving between this person and that,
and it never works out that one person gives or receives precisely what another person gives or gets.
We pray,
we bake,
we clean,
we teach,
we cry,
we spend,
we rest,
we lift,
we tote,
we make curtains,
we clean church rooms,
we glue little stars on the top of construction paper stables with tiny hands,
we build tables,
we bring cans of food,
and save grocery store receipts.
We write checks with tired hands
and we wrap energized hands around hymnals to sing all the louder for the benefit of those about to be baptized,
and we do our best to welcome strangers here –
and it never, never, never works out evenly.
Mutual aid is about tangibles and intangibles.
The spiritual giving and the material giving work out the same in the eyes we're granted through scripture.
C. S. Lewis used to say: We're amphibians:
half spirit and half body.
So making sure the survivors of a disaster are prayed for,
and helping provide for their need,
matters pretty much the same.
Within the body of Christ the rules are thrown out the window.
We get more than we bargained for,
we give more than we need.
Whenever we have a church potluck,
it is inevitable that some folks are bring two or three dishes, instead of the one as they were instructed.
That is grace.
The conventional wisdom is that we're supposed to give value for value, and receive the same.
A pound of potatoes should cost the same for everyone.
Equal effort should lead to equal reward.
That's precisely the way it should work in the secular world.
We need that protection, because we're fallen creatures.
We should, however, be uncomfortable if that attitude seeps into our life as a church.
The fact that we may drop off a pie at your house doesn't mean you need to send one back.
You might drop off some extra brownies months later, if you're in the baking mood,
or better yet, you might take those brownies over to someone who just began attending the church.
If someone visits you in the hospital, you might visit a totally different person when it's their turn,
or arrange the covered dishes to be taken to the family.
You see, mutual aid is an essential element of the Christian faith.
It's one of the building blocks of the Christian community.
It's found in the Old Testament – and the New Testament.
It is expected that in greater and lesser ways that we take care of each other
and put our stuff at each others' disposal when the need is there.
This mutuality is designed to protect God's people as individuals and a community.
It's found, for instance, in the Ten Commandments. The rules set up the framework for a just and equitable society, but particularly, the command we read a while ago, Exodus 20:12 ,is especially helpful in understanding mutual aid.
The verse, you remember, is:
"Honor your father and your mother,
so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you."
You see, this is a call to the people of God to take care of older, perhaps less productive members. Although the commandment is written in the context of a male-oriented patriarchal society it guarantees protection for women as well as men.
It is aimed at the protection of individuals (some of whom may be less deserving than others)
but the rewards are promised to the entire body and not to individuals.
Taking care of one's elders does not guarantee a long life to the individual caregiver.
We all know that some parents outlive their children on many sad occasions,
but this level of care to all guarantees long life and secure life for all,
a higher quality of life for the people as a whole.
In other words, an action taken by one member of the community benefits others besides that individual,
and raises the quality of life for all.
This mutuality is at the heart of the concept of mutual aid in the scriptures.
Consider an essential part of the Torah, the Law of Moses contained in the first five books of the Bible. "When you reap the harvest of your land,
you shall not reap to the very edges of your field,
or gather the gleanings of your harvest.
You shall not strip your vineyard bare,
or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard;
you shall leave them for the poor and the alien:
I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:9-10).
And, this is not an isolated verse.
On several occasions, God's Word is directed toward the haves, with regard to the have nots.
The message is always clear.
A way has to be found to take care of everyone.
It's not a question of voluntary charity.
It's mutual aid.
The community of God is commanded to find a way for folks to take care of each other.
In the case of these laws, the door was opened even for an outsider, Ruth the Moabite,
a member of a nation despised by Israelites,
to take part in the bounty of the land and ultimately to become a part of the faith story.
The impatience of the prophets at the people's inability to share God's justice and bounty is evident in all their pages.
"I desire mercy and not sacrifice" (cf. Hosea 6:6).
Indeed, many report that when they read the Bible from cover to cover they are surprised to discover that the one consistent theme in scripture from first to last was God's call to justice,
and that call had a definite economic edge.
The duty of the people of God to take care of each other is explored in a much more intentional way in the New Testament.
From the beginning, there is the assumption in the ministry of Jesus that all are included in the circle of care.
Lepers, ethnic outsiders, tax collectors, untouchables, women,
all who might be marginalized,
are touched and accepted by Jesus,
and brought into the community.
They can then choose to become followers,
able to help in the caring for each other.
Others marvel that these people can be accepted and protected,
but Jesus defends their inclusion.
So it is not surprising that the early Christians assumed that they were responsible for the care of all who touched their community.
Moreover, this included not just spiritual,
but financial assistance on the part of the believers.
We see this reciprocity expressed first in the lives of those who cared for Jesus.
The picture emerges during his ministry of a large body of believers who moved from place to place.
In addition to Jesus and the twelve apostles, there are references to a sizable number of disciples, male and female.
The fact is that all of these people needed to eat and drink, and a place to sleep.
Mary of Magdala, after careful Bible study, emerges as a woman of means,
possibly of the upper class,
who helped support the ministry of Jesus along with several other women,
including Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward,
and Susanna (Luke 8:1-3).
The home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in Judea also provided for Jesus during his trips south toward Jerusalem.
The disciples had every expectation that the community of faith would take care of their needs (Luke10:1-9),
and in addition they shared out of a common purse (John 12:6).
Jesus admonished the people to "Love your neighbor as yourself,"
which is drawn from Leviticus 19:18.
Among the most famous passages which illustrate the intention of the group to practice mutual aid and assistance is this verse from Acts 4:32:
"Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul,
and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions,
but everything they owned was held in common."
Several other scriptures speak to the necessity of mutual aid.
These include:
Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2
For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." - Galatians 5:14
You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." - James 2:8
I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you,
but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need,
so that their abundance may be for your need,
in order that there may be a fair balance.
As it is written,
"The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little."
- 2 Corinthians 8:13-15
In today's passage, we see that Dorcas gave much but probably died poor.
There is no mention of oils for anointing or other things that might indicate wealth.
Her real wealth lay in the high regard in which she was held by others.
And when Dorcas was healed she returned to her work,
not because she had to,
but because there was no way to stop her!
Dorcas played an important part in her church.
So, how do you think you will be viewed when it is your turn to be eulogized?
How would you like to be remembered?
How do we practice mutual aid among ourselves? Are we truly blest by the ties that bind us?
Are we ready to serve each other?
We are saved by our faith, and not by our works, but as James, tells us: faith without works is dead,
and to quote him directly,
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world" (James 1:27).
Do you remember the song that says, "They'll know we are Christians by our love?"
(We are going to sing it again in a few minutes.)
I always thought ought to be our theme song.
Let's hope they know us by the mutual aid that we practice,
by the caring we display for each other,
by the words that we share
and the lives that we live.
And our living faith.
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church heard this sermon during a worship service, April 28, 2013.
(This sermon is presented as a service for those who were not able to attend.
The minister makes no claim on the originality of this sermon;
but the conclusions drawn and the emphasis made belong only to him in an effort to communicate God's story as revealed to him.)
as it is about Dorcas and how she lived her life.
Within the body of Christ the rules are thrown out the window.
Mutual aid is an essential element of the Christian faith.
It's one of the building blocks of the Christian community.
It's found in the Old Testament – and the New Testament.
God's Word is directed toward the haves, with regard to the have-nots.
The message is always clear.
A way has to be found to take care of everyone
Exodus 20:12
Acts 9:36-39
When Tabitha died, her friends sent for the Apostle Peter.
When he arrived, people were quick to show him the same sorts of things.
As it says, All the widows were there weeping and wailing,
and they showed him the coats and clothes that Dorcas had made while she was still alive. (Acts 9:39).
Remember that widows in those days could not get jobs or take care of themselves.
They were dependant upon living relatives,
and if they had none, they were totally dependent on charity.
This doesn't mean the widows only thought of Dorcas in terms of what she had done for them.
It means they realized the relationship of receiving and giving had ended.
Now, in the verses I didn’t read, that appear right after what I did read,
Peter asks the ladies to leave the room,
and he escorts them out and shuts the door,
then he kneels by the bedside of the deceased and offers a prayer.
Then, the story goes, Peter turns to the lifeless body on the bed and says, “Tabitha, wake up!”
Witnesses say a miracle happened that day.
Tabitha opened her eyes,
looked around the room,
focused on Peter and sat up in bed.
She must of thought, “What is this strange man doing in my bedroom.”
He helped her out of the bed, and helped her walk to the door of the room.
Man, there was a party that night!
Most people focus on what Peter did when they read this.
But, I think that this story is not so much about Peter bringing a dead woman back to life,
as it is about Dorcas and how she lived her life.
It is about the tie that binds us together
becoming visible through the practice of mutual aid.
The thing about mutual aid is that mutual aid is about never having things work out evenly.
Within the body of Christ there is giving and receiving between this person and that,
and it never works out that one person gives or receives precisely what another person gives or gets.
We pray,
we bake,
we clean,
we teach,
we cry,
we spend,
we rest,
we lift,
we tote,
we make curtains,
we clean church rooms,
we glue little stars on the top of construction paper stables with tiny hands,
we build tables,
we bring cans of food,
and save grocery store receipts.
We write checks with tired hands
and we wrap energized hands around hymnals to sing all the louder for the benefit of those about to be baptized,
and we do our best to welcome strangers here –
and it never, never, never works out evenly.
Mutual aid is about tangibles and intangibles.
The spiritual giving and the material giving work out the same in the eyes we're granted through scripture.
C. S. Lewis used to say: We're amphibians:
half spirit and half body.
So making sure the survivors of a disaster are prayed for,
and helping provide for their need,
matters pretty much the same.
Within the body of Christ the rules are thrown out the window.
We get more than we bargained for,
we give more than we need.
Whenever we have a church potluck,
it is inevitable that some folks are bring two or three dishes, instead of the one as they were instructed.
That is grace.
The conventional wisdom is that we're supposed to give value for value, and receive the same.
A pound of potatoes should cost the same for everyone.
Equal effort should lead to equal reward.
That's precisely the way it should work in the secular world.
We need that protection, because we're fallen creatures.
We should, however, be uncomfortable if that attitude seeps into our life as a church.
The fact that we may drop off a pie at your house doesn't mean you need to send one back.
You might drop off some extra brownies months later, if you're in the baking mood,
or better yet, you might take those brownies over to someone who just began attending the church.
If someone visits you in the hospital, you might visit a totally different person when it's their turn,
or arrange the covered dishes to be taken to the family.
You see, mutual aid is an essential element of the Christian faith.
It's one of the building blocks of the Christian community.
It's found in the Old Testament – and the New Testament.
It is expected that in greater and lesser ways that we take care of each other
and put our stuff at each others' disposal when the need is there.
This mutuality is designed to protect God's people as individuals and a community.
It's found, for instance, in the Ten Commandments. The rules set up the framework for a just and equitable society, but particularly, the command we read a while ago, Exodus 20:12 ,is especially helpful in understanding mutual aid.
The verse, you remember, is:
"Honor your father and your mother,
so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you."
You see, this is a call to the people of God to take care of older, perhaps less productive members. Although the commandment is written in the context of a male-oriented patriarchal society it guarantees protection for women as well as men.
It is aimed at the protection of individuals (some of whom may be less deserving than others)
but the rewards are promised to the entire body and not to individuals.
Taking care of one's elders does not guarantee a long life to the individual caregiver.
We all know that some parents outlive their children on many sad occasions,
but this level of care to all guarantees long life and secure life for all,
a higher quality of life for the people as a whole.
In other words, an action taken by one member of the community benefits others besides that individual,
and raises the quality of life for all.
This mutuality is at the heart of the concept of mutual aid in the scriptures.
Consider an essential part of the Torah, the Law of Moses contained in the first five books of the Bible. "When you reap the harvest of your land,
you shall not reap to the very edges of your field,
or gather the gleanings of your harvest.
You shall not strip your vineyard bare,
or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard;
you shall leave them for the poor and the alien:
I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:9-10).
And, this is not an isolated verse.
On several occasions, God's Word is directed toward the haves, with regard to the have nots.
The message is always clear.
A way has to be found to take care of everyone.
It's not a question of voluntary charity.
It's mutual aid.
The community of God is commanded to find a way for folks to take care of each other.
In the case of these laws, the door was opened even for an outsider, Ruth the Moabite,
a member of a nation despised by Israelites,
to take part in the bounty of the land and ultimately to become a part of the faith story.
The impatience of the prophets at the people's inability to share God's justice and bounty is evident in all their pages.
"I desire mercy and not sacrifice" (cf. Hosea 6:6).
Indeed, many report that when they read the Bible from cover to cover they are surprised to discover that the one consistent theme in scripture from first to last was God's call to justice,
and that call had a definite economic edge.
The duty of the people of God to take care of each other is explored in a much more intentional way in the New Testament.
From the beginning, there is the assumption in the ministry of Jesus that all are included in the circle of care.
Lepers, ethnic outsiders, tax collectors, untouchables, women,
all who might be marginalized,
are touched and accepted by Jesus,
and brought into the community.
They can then choose to become followers,
able to help in the caring for each other.
Others marvel that these people can be accepted and protected,
but Jesus defends their inclusion.
So it is not surprising that the early Christians assumed that they were responsible for the care of all who touched their community.
Moreover, this included not just spiritual,
but financial assistance on the part of the believers.
We see this reciprocity expressed first in the lives of those who cared for Jesus.
The picture emerges during his ministry of a large body of believers who moved from place to place.
In addition to Jesus and the twelve apostles, there are references to a sizable number of disciples, male and female.
The fact is that all of these people needed to eat and drink, and a place to sleep.
Mary of Magdala, after careful Bible study, emerges as a woman of means,
possibly of the upper class,
who helped support the ministry of Jesus along with several other women,
including Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward,
and Susanna (Luke 8:1-3).
The home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus in Judea also provided for Jesus during his trips south toward Jerusalem.
The disciples had every expectation that the community of faith would take care of their needs (Luke10:1-9),
and in addition they shared out of a common purse (John 12:6).
Jesus admonished the people to "Love your neighbor as yourself,"
which is drawn from Leviticus 19:18.
Among the most famous passages which illustrate the intention of the group to practice mutual aid and assistance is this verse from Acts 4:32:
"Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul,
and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions,
but everything they owned was held in common."
Several other scriptures speak to the necessity of mutual aid.
These include:
Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. - Galatians 6:2
For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." - Galatians 5:14
You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." - James 2:8
I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you,
but it is a question of a fair balance between your present abundance and their need,
so that their abundance may be for your need,
in order that there may be a fair balance.
As it is written,
"The one who had much did not have too much, and the one who had little did not have too little."
- 2 Corinthians 8:13-15
In today's passage, we see that Dorcas gave much but probably died poor.
There is no mention of oils for anointing or other things that might indicate wealth.
Her real wealth lay in the high regard in which she was held by others.
And when Dorcas was healed she returned to her work,
not because she had to,
but because there was no way to stop her!
Dorcas played an important part in her church.
So, how do you think you will be viewed when it is your turn to be eulogized?
How would you like to be remembered?
How do we practice mutual aid among ourselves? Are we truly blest by the ties that bind us?
Are we ready to serve each other?
We are saved by our faith, and not by our works, but as James, tells us: faith without works is dead,
and to quote him directly,
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world" (James 1:27).
Do you remember the song that says, "They'll know we are Christians by our love?"
(We are going to sing it again in a few minutes.)
I always thought ought to be our theme song.
Let's hope they know us by the mutual aid that we practice,
by the caring we display for each other,
by the words that we share
and the lives that we live.
And our living faith.
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church heard this sermon during a worship service, April 28, 2013.
(This sermon is presented as a service for those who were not able to attend.
The minister makes no claim on the originality of this sermon;
but the conclusions drawn and the emphasis made belong only to him in an effort to communicate God's story as revealed to him.)
Friday, April 12, 2013
Funny Sunday: The Risus Paschalis - The Easter Laugh
Laughter has been called God's holy medicine –
the ancients thought it to be exercise for the soul.
There is no doubt in my mind that these disciples were happy people when they encountered the Risen Christ.
They must have been laughing and carrying on.
They knew the joke was on them, because they hadn't believed what they had been told.
Today we celebrate the risus paschalis – God’s easter laugh.
The joke is on the devil.
The joke is on all who still think that life is defined by birth and death.
Jesus taught the early church how to laugh:
how to laugh at death.
How to laugh at appearances,
how to laugh in the face of all manner of difficulty.
Today, we remember God’s great surprise –
Ecclesiastes 3:1-4
Luke 24:36-43
After warming up with a series of knock knock jokes - 40-60 in rapid delivery:
State of the church that day:
those first Christians were pretty bleak that first Easter Sunday.
They had witnessed a disturbing set of events.
Their leader, the one to whom they had sworn their allegiance,
the one they thought was going to lead them and the world into a new tomorrow, was tortured, ridiculed, crucified, dead, (for sure,) and buried.
And then, on this third day,
they found the tomb in which he was placed, open, and his body missing -
taken by whom?,
removed to where?,
and why?
They suspected sadism, I'm sure.
The authorities - or some enemies - just wanted to make sure this troublemaker would never be heard from again.
They were afraid.
What did all of this mean for them?
For sure, the authorities would be coming after them now.
What to do?
They gathered behind locked doors - fearing the worst.
And then, all of a sudden, there he is.
Right there in the middle of them.
In the middle of their wailing and gnashing of teeth,
there’s Jesus.
Knock knock.
Reactions to Jesus: !!!!!?????!!!!!
"Hee-haw! Jesus Christ!"
They must have had the biggest smiles
Can't you just see and feel what happened?
"Oh man, you really did it this time!
You really put one over on us!
You got us good! And what about the others?
Just wait until they get a load of this!"
The Risen Christ was the punch line of God's Great Surprise.
The resurrection of Jesus is the greatest surprise in the history of humanity.
Until then, once people died and were buried, they stayed put.
There is no doubt in my mind that these disciples were happy people when they encountered the Risen Christ.
They must have been laughing and carrying on.
They knew the joke was on them, because they hadn't believed what they had been told.
And now, the joke is on all those who refuse to believe.
This is the Easter surprise, the Easter laugh, the Easter joy.
And, far from being so solemn and placid like he is portrayed in so many pictures,
Jesus must have been grinning from ear to ear! – grabbing his friends by the neck, hugging and rustling hair – and what did he say:
“Hey, got anything to eat around here?”
And what did they do:
they flipped him a fish.
Zig Zigler writes that “the most destitute person in the world is the one without a smile.”
This is when the disciples broke out of their situation – no longer were they feeling destitute and downcast.
C.K. Chesterton wrote that “surprise is the secret of joy.”
For centuries there has been a tradition passed on through some of our Christian Orthodox churches for the people to gather on the Monday after Easter to be joyful – to celebrate surprises – to tell jokes and stories – sharing laughter.
And in it all, remembering the punch line of God’s Greatest Surprise.
A church historian has pointed out that in days of yore, every Easter sermon began with a joke.
Somehow, we have misguidedly equated somberism with Christianity.
Clearly, this was not the case in the very beginning.
Those early Christians were so surprised by their Risen Friend that they must have been ecstatic! – totally joyous – completely joy-filled.
Today in many parts of the world, many Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox countries celebrate Easter Monday as a day of “joy and laughter” with parties and picnics to celebrate Jesus’s resurrection.
It is called White Monday,
Bright Monday,
Dyngus Day,
and Emmaus Day in various countries.
It is a time for the faithful to play practical jokes on one another,
a time to sing silly songs,
a time to dance crazy steps.
It is a time for clergy and lay people to tell jokes and to have fun.
The custom of Easter Monday and Holy Hilarity Sunday celebrations are rooted in the musings of early church theologians like Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa and John Crysostom that God played a joke on the devil by raising Jesus from the dead.
You see, Easter is seen as “God’s supreme joke played on that old imposter, death.”
The early theologians called it “risus paschalis” – the Easter laugh.
This theme has been passed down through the ages.
Francis of Assisi advised: “Leave sadness to the devil. The devil has reason to be sad.”
Meister Eckhart, a 13th century theologian, wrote: “God laughed and begat the Son.
Together they laughed and begat the Holy Spirit. And from the laughter of the Three, the universe was born.”
Martin Luther wrote: “God is not a God of sadness, but the devil is.
Christ is a God of joy.
It is pleasing to the dear God whenever one rejoices or laughs from the bottom of your heart.”
Easter is the morning when the Lord laughs out loud,
laughs at all the things that snuff out joy,
laughs at all the things that pretend to be all-powerful, like cruelty and madness and despair and evil,
and most especially, laughs at the great pretender, death.
Jesus sweeps them away with his wonderful resurrection laughter.
Norman Vincent Peale wrote:
“laughter sweeps away the cobwebs from the mind.”
Paul talks about a resurrection appearance of Jesus before an audience of over 500 people.
One writer ruminates:
“[Now how would you think] 500-plus people react to an appearance by Jesus, the one who had been crucified and buried?
Would they applaud politely?
(With a proper Presbyterian clap.)
My guess is that 500-plus folks rose to their feed with a standing ovation.
This was the most incredible comeback story of all time.
They would have jumped for joy and hugged their neighbors and probably even danced all around.
These 500-plus folks, because of Jesus, had the best belly laugh of their lives.
Easter had taught the 500-plus how to celebrate.”
We ought to pay attention, don’t you think?
Church historians indicate that there is considerable evidence that during the early centuries of Christianity, Easter celebrations went on for days – even weeks.
This picture on our bulletin is very appropriate for today.
It is an artist’s depiction of the Risen Christ with his friends in the evening on that first Easter Day.
– the story we read this morning.
Today, many churches all over the country are trying to lift up the hilaritas of the Easter season -- celebrating the risus paschalis: the Easter Laugh.
Michelangelo wrote rather indignantly in 1564 to his fellow artists:
“Why do you keep filing gallery after gallery with endless pictures of the one ever-reiterated theme of Christ in weakness,
of Christ upon the cross,
of Christ dying,
of Christ hanging dead?
Why do you stop there as if the curtain is closed upon that horror?
Keep the curtain open, and with the cross in the foreground, let us see beyond it to the Easter dawn with its beams streaming upon the risen Christ, Christ alive, Christ ruling, Christ triumphant.
“For we should be ringing out over the world that Christ has won,
that evil is toppling,
that the end is sure,
and that death is followed by victory.
That is the tonic we need to keep us healthy,
the trumpet blast to fire our blood and send us crowding in behind our Master,
swinging happily on our way,
laughing and singing and recklessly unafraid, because the feel of victory is in the air and our hearts thrill to it.”
Laughter has been called God's holy medicine –
the ancients thought it to be exercise for the soul.
What a great idea, don’t you think?
Laughter is exercise for the soul!
In fact, there is a tremendous body of evidence being
accumulated today in schools from Johns Hopkins to
Stanford University Medical Schools and in countries
all over the world – evidence that supports this ancient idea:
that laughter is exercise for the soul and
actually affects our physical and mental health.
Not long ago the AARP newsletter published an article about how doctors and nurses and hospitals are being taught what we already know: the title of the article is "It's No Joke: Humor Heals"!
You may have seen that movie, Patches.
It's a real story about a real doctor, Patch Adams, and his work to introduce laughter therapy into medical institutions.
A whole field of study has arisen called psychoneuroimmunology –
studying the affects of love and laughter,
the affects of attitude on a person's state of health.
Actually, this is one of the secrets of this church.
Recent studies show that church-goers tend to live
longer and be healthier than others in the population.
This doesn't mean that going to church is like an
insurance policy whereby you automatically will be
rewarded with good health and a long life.
All of us get ill, and we do die.
But, here in church we learn how to live now,
we learn how to love,
we learn how to survive,
we learn how to have the courage to face each day.
In fact, we might should say that is the goal of our
church: to teach us how to live these days of our lives
joyously and lovingly.
Today we celebrate the risus paschalis – God’s easter laugh.
The joke is on the devil.
The joke is on all who still think that life is defined by birth and death.
Jesus taught the early church how to laugh:
how to laugh at death.
How to laugh at appearances,
how to laugh in the face of all manner of difficulty.
Today, we remember God’s great surprise –
and the word for each of us:
Turn to John 15:11 [page ]
Like those early disciples, when you experience the risen Christ – joy is yours.
Paul can say:
“rejoice in all things. Again, I say, rejoice!”
Easter is a time of deep surprise, the surprise of suddenly realizing that God makes all things right in ways we can never imagine.
On this second Sunday of Easter, I hope you can continue to feel the joy of encountering the Risen Christ for a long time to come. Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon on Holy Humor Sunday, March 7, 2013.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Easter: The Birthday of A Whole New World
It is very clear that none of those early followers of Jesus expected Easter.
Resurrection was not a part of their daily experience.
Jesus’s closest friends and disciples didn’t believe the women.
Because the story was too far fetched.
If we are honest, those apostles on that first Easter were really not much different from us, are they?
We know what’s real, don’t we?
We know the limits of the physical universe.
The real miracle of Easter is that Jesus continues to be alive and continues to come to us and continues to empower us –
just as he came to those apostles, and just as he empowered them.
Like the apostles, like those women early in the morning on that first Easter,
we usually fail to recognize the living Lord and his restoring power for our lives,
because we look in the wrong places.
Easter is a conviction that says that something extraordinary is loose in our world, and compels us to live our lives into glory.
So, I have this cartoon that shows two Roman soldiers guarding Jesus' tomb on the first Easter morning.
Each has a mug of tea in his hand, and the sun is just rising above the horizon.
One is encouraging the other:
"Cheer up, it's Sunday morning.
As I see it, we have one more day of guarding the tomb.
By Monday the whole thing will blow over."
Of course, the whole thing didn’t blow over, did it?
The world is still astonished that millions of Christians celebrate Easter with such excitement. Like those guards at the tomb they assume that "by Monday the whole thing will blow over."
But, it doesn't, does it?
After some 2000 years, we still come to hear the story told once more.
While we may not comprehend the actual story – and the events the stories recall –
we have a hunch that it is an important story
and so we come to hear it again,
to sing the festive music,
to take in the colorful flowers,
to see who else is here,
and, maybe, to be inspired somewhat.
The Easter story is central to each of the Gospels.
Each of the Gospels has a little different slant on the story, but each one is very clear about the significance of what happened that day.
Mark lets us know that it was the women who were there first early in the morning.
[It seems like the women are always there first, doesn’t it?]
And Mark names the women.
When they got to the tomb they became frightened.
What they saw was not what they were expecting to see.
It is very clear that none of those early followers of Jesus expected Easter.
Although the signs may have pointed to it, it was not expected.
[At this point, they were no different from you and me, were they?]
Resurrection was not a part of their daily experience.
They actually thought their movement was over. They were afraid for their lives.
They took to hiding, lest the authorities would find them and kill them too.
So, while the men hid, the women went to the tomb carrying spices they had prepared, presumably for a ritual cleansing of the body of their friend Jesus.
Just two days before they were there as the body of Jesus was placed in the unused tomb that had been dug out of solid rock.
And so, they were surprised to find the stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb rolled away from the doorway.
And, then they saw this man – and then they were frightened.
Why was this stranger there?
And why is he in the tomb of their friend?
What did he want?
Who was he?
Who did he work for?
Of course, they were too scared to ask these questions out loud.
They had witnessed the way the authorities and the crowds treated their friend a couple of days before, and they must of feared for their lives now.
They bowed downed to the ground.
They cowed.
They turned their heads.
They averted their eyes.
As if to say, “I didn’t see you.
Spare me and I won’t tell anyone you were here.”
But then, the unusual happens – the real surprise of the story.
The man in his bright shining clothes spoke to the women.
He said, “So, Why are you looking among the dead for the one who is alive?”
Those women must have wondered what that meant as much as we do.
Then the man said, “He is not here!”
What do you mean, “He’s not here?
What have you done with him?”
“He has been raised. Remember what he said?”
“Well, yeah, but . . . .”
Mark says that then they remembered.
Then it began to dawn on them.
It must be true.
All that he said before.
It must be true.
Blessed are the peacemakers --
the last shall be first --
love your neighbor as yourself --
a place is prepared for you at the table in the Kingdom --
worry not about the cares of the world, God will take care of you.
It all must be true!
They immediately returned to where the apostles were hiding and told them what had happened.
“It all must be true, don’t you see?”
But, the apostles thought the women were a little touched in the head
– they thought they were crazy
– they thought the women were nuts
– they didn’t believe them.
Jesus’s closest friends and disciples didn’t believe the women.
Because the story was too far fetched –
even for them –
especially for them.
They had seen their leader totally defeated,
mocked even,
tortured,
ridiculed,
killed,
dead to the max.
And no one helped him.
He died alone –
apparently despised and rejected by all who may have been able to help him –
apparently even abandoned by his God.
The authorities had won.
If they had thought of it, they would have said, “The devil was victorious.”
Clearly, their lives as they had known them, were over.
Things had changed now.
And, they weren’t sure just how it was all going to be sorted out.
So the women must be hallucinating.
If we are honest, those apostles on that first Easter were really not much different from us, are they?
We know what’s real, don’t we?
We know the limits of the physical universe.
We experience the reality of life within boundaries of space and time, right? – we are born, we live, and we die.
And so we hear the Easter account as those disciples did on that morning – except . . . .
Except, we know the rest of the story.
The disciples came to believe only after they experienced the Risen Christ –
the disciples came to believe only after they met the Risen Christ --
the disciples came to believe only after the encountered the Risen Christ.
And so it is with us.
The real miracle of Easter is not that the tomb was empty.
The real miracle of Easter is not that Jesus was raised as the two men announced to the women that morning.
But, the real miracle of Easter is that Jesus continues to be alive and continues to come to us and continues to empower us –
just as he came to those apostles, and just as he empowered them.
They came to find and experience the presence of Christ wherever they went.
Wherever they went, whatever they did, he was already there – ahead of them.
Like the apostles, like those women early in the morning on that first Easter,
we usually fail to recognize the living Lord and his restoring power for our lives,
because we look in the wrong places.
[Why do you look among the dead, for the one who lives?]
When we seek the living Lord among the dead, as they did, what we do here and what we celebrate is little more than a history lesson.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, what Easter proclaims is that Jesus refuses to stay buried,
refuses to stay undercover,
refuses to stay entombed,
refuses to stay in the container.
He keeps getting out of the tombs in which we keep trying to bury him.
It would be much more comfortable if we didn’t have this to deal with, wouldn’t it?
We keep trying to put Jesus in a box, don’t we? – a tomb –
like the Jews tried to keep their God in a box.
But, it didn’t work for them.
And it doesn’t work for us.
A preacher-friend told me a story about his little league days.
In 1953 there just four teams in his little town.
Their uniforms were just baseball caps and T-shirts dyed different colors.
They didn’t have much of a playing field –
there was barely discernable grass in the outfield, and there was nothing defining the base paths –
except for chalk lines down the first and third base lines.
He remembers playing two and three games a day on that beaten lot.
And every single time they played, he remembers Jack being there.
Jack was a man of no last name,
but Jack was the faithful soul who was always there and always laid down the chalk base lines for every game.
It didn’t take long for the chalk lines to be obliterated, but Jack would remark the lines after the third inning of each game to ensure the integrity of the playing field.
He said, “Jack, the chalk man was always there to mark the baselines of our play.”
And I thought, you know, that’s what this Risen Christ is always doing:
lining the pathways for us to follow.
He establishes the pathways between human beings and God,
pathways that are frequently obliterated by the struggling enthusiasm, and stubborn resistance of people like you and me.
The Risen Christ opens passages of love among people,
among cultures,
among nations again and again.
It happens when people feel the deep conviction of the love of Christ in their lives and know that they live under the command to share the gospel story of love.
There is a Gaelic legend that tells about an eagle swooping down and carrying a little baby off to his lofty nest up as high as the eagle could go on top of the mountain.
Needless to say, the people of the village were extremely upset about this.
And the strongest of the young villagers chased after the eagle.
They tried to scale the high rugged cliff to reach the eagle’s nest on top.
But, alas, one by one, each of the rugged young men fails.
Each one starts to lag.
Each one starts to draw back.
And as they languish, they see a thin young woman coming up the steep cliff behind them,
slowly and deliberately, finally overtaking them,
and even passing them, and going on to reach the nest on top.
The eagle is not there.
The baby is – and appears unhurt.
She picks up the baby, carefully wraps him up in her shawl and starts down the treacherous precipice carrying the unharmed baby in her shawl.
Needless-to-say, the men were astounded.
They asked, “How can you do that? – when we failed?”
And she tells them her secret: “I’m the baby’s mother.”
The point is that she had a conviction in her heart and soul which propelled her up the cliff to reclaim her child.
And that’s what Easter does for us.
That’s why we celebrate Easter each year at this time.
That’s why we celebrate Easter each and every Sunday when we gather in here in worship.
Easter is a conviction that says that something extraordinary is loose in our world, and compels us to live our lives into glory.
Christ is alive!
Christ is present today.
We see it again and again. If we only look.
If we only use the senses that have been given to us.
We encounter the presence of Christ through people who are ready to help one another through difficult times.
We encounter the presence of Christ through those who care for one another.
We encounter the presence of Christ through those who work for justice and are willing to protect the sacred rights of every person.
We encounter the presence of Christ among people who seek peace with a fervent desire to live in a world that is transformed by human action and divine love.
We encounter the presence of Christ with people who joyfully share the gift of love no matter the circumstance or cost.
And the kicker is, friends, you and I are called to be those people –
each and every one of us, is called to be –
helpers,
caregivers,
protectors of justice,
pursuers of peace
and witnesses to God’s love at work in the world.
You can look all you want among the dead for the one who lives.
But, you’ll never find the Christ there.
The direction was given to those women on that first Easter morning –
and the direction is given to you and me –
“He is not here.
He has been raised.
Go back to where you came from.
Go back to the communities, to the streets and byways where you live your lives.
That’s where you will find him.”
It’s a new world now.
It’s a new day!
There are new rules to play by!
Joy to the world!
Joy to you this Easter day!
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013.
Resurrection was not a part of their daily experience.
Jesus’s closest friends and disciples didn’t believe the women.
Because the story was too far fetched.
If we are honest, those apostles on that first Easter were really not much different from us, are they?
We know what’s real, don’t we?
We know the limits of the physical universe.
The real miracle of Easter is that Jesus continues to be alive and continues to come to us and continues to empower us –
just as he came to those apostles, and just as he empowered them.
Like the apostles, like those women early in the morning on that first Easter,
we usually fail to recognize the living Lord and his restoring power for our lives,
because we look in the wrong places.
Easter is a conviction that says that something extraordinary is loose in our world, and compels us to live our lives into glory.
So, I have this cartoon that shows two Roman soldiers guarding Jesus' tomb on the first Easter morning.
Each has a mug of tea in his hand, and the sun is just rising above the horizon.
One is encouraging the other:
"Cheer up, it's Sunday morning.
As I see it, we have one more day of guarding the tomb.
By Monday the whole thing will blow over."
Of course, the whole thing didn’t blow over, did it?
The world is still astonished that millions of Christians celebrate Easter with such excitement. Like those guards at the tomb they assume that "by Monday the whole thing will blow over."
But, it doesn't, does it?
After some 2000 years, we still come to hear the story told once more.
While we may not comprehend the actual story – and the events the stories recall –
we have a hunch that it is an important story
and so we come to hear it again,
to sing the festive music,
to take in the colorful flowers,
to see who else is here,
and, maybe, to be inspired somewhat.
The Easter story is central to each of the Gospels.
Each of the Gospels has a little different slant on the story, but each one is very clear about the significance of what happened that day.
Mark lets us know that it was the women who were there first early in the morning.
[It seems like the women are always there first, doesn’t it?]
And Mark names the women.
When they got to the tomb they became frightened.
What they saw was not what they were expecting to see.
It is very clear that none of those early followers of Jesus expected Easter.
Although the signs may have pointed to it, it was not expected.
[At this point, they were no different from you and me, were they?]
Resurrection was not a part of their daily experience.
They actually thought their movement was over. They were afraid for their lives.
They took to hiding, lest the authorities would find them and kill them too.
So, while the men hid, the women went to the tomb carrying spices they had prepared, presumably for a ritual cleansing of the body of their friend Jesus.
Just two days before they were there as the body of Jesus was placed in the unused tomb that had been dug out of solid rock.
And so, they were surprised to find the stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb rolled away from the doorway.
And, then they saw this man – and then they were frightened.
Why was this stranger there?
And why is he in the tomb of their friend?
What did he want?
Who was he?
Who did he work for?
Of course, they were too scared to ask these questions out loud.
They had witnessed the way the authorities and the crowds treated their friend a couple of days before, and they must of feared for their lives now.
They bowed downed to the ground.
They cowed.
They turned their heads.
They averted their eyes.
As if to say, “I didn’t see you.
Spare me and I won’t tell anyone you were here.”
But then, the unusual happens – the real surprise of the story.
The man in his bright shining clothes spoke to the women.
He said, “So, Why are you looking among the dead for the one who is alive?”
Those women must have wondered what that meant as much as we do.
Then the man said, “He is not here!”
What do you mean, “He’s not here?
What have you done with him?”
“He has been raised. Remember what he said?”
“Well, yeah, but . . . .”
Mark says that then they remembered.
Then it began to dawn on them.
It must be true.
All that he said before.
It must be true.
Blessed are the peacemakers --
the last shall be first --
love your neighbor as yourself --
a place is prepared for you at the table in the Kingdom --
worry not about the cares of the world, God will take care of you.
It all must be true!
They immediately returned to where the apostles were hiding and told them what had happened.
“It all must be true, don’t you see?”
But, the apostles thought the women were a little touched in the head
– they thought they were crazy
– they thought the women were nuts
– they didn’t believe them.
Jesus’s closest friends and disciples didn’t believe the women.
Because the story was too far fetched –
even for them –
especially for them.
They had seen their leader totally defeated,
mocked even,
tortured,
ridiculed,
killed,
dead to the max.
And no one helped him.
He died alone –
apparently despised and rejected by all who may have been able to help him –
apparently even abandoned by his God.
The authorities had won.
If they had thought of it, they would have said, “The devil was victorious.”
Clearly, their lives as they had known them, were over.
Things had changed now.
And, they weren’t sure just how it was all going to be sorted out.
So the women must be hallucinating.
If we are honest, those apostles on that first Easter were really not much different from us, are they?
We know what’s real, don’t we?
We know the limits of the physical universe.
We experience the reality of life within boundaries of space and time, right? – we are born, we live, and we die.
And so we hear the Easter account as those disciples did on that morning – except . . . .
Except, we know the rest of the story.
The disciples came to believe only after they experienced the Risen Christ –
the disciples came to believe only after they met the Risen Christ --
the disciples came to believe only after the encountered the Risen Christ.
And so it is with us.
The real miracle of Easter is not that the tomb was empty.
The real miracle of Easter is not that Jesus was raised as the two men announced to the women that morning.
But, the real miracle of Easter is that Jesus continues to be alive and continues to come to us and continues to empower us –
just as he came to those apostles, and just as he empowered them.
They came to find and experience the presence of Christ wherever they went.
Wherever they went, whatever they did, he was already there – ahead of them.
Like the apostles, like those women early in the morning on that first Easter,
we usually fail to recognize the living Lord and his restoring power for our lives,
because we look in the wrong places.
[Why do you look among the dead, for the one who lives?]
When we seek the living Lord among the dead, as they did, what we do here and what we celebrate is little more than a history lesson.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, what Easter proclaims is that Jesus refuses to stay buried,
refuses to stay undercover,
refuses to stay entombed,
refuses to stay in the container.
He keeps getting out of the tombs in which we keep trying to bury him.
It would be much more comfortable if we didn’t have this to deal with, wouldn’t it?
We keep trying to put Jesus in a box, don’t we? – a tomb –
like the Jews tried to keep their God in a box.
But, it didn’t work for them.
And it doesn’t work for us.
A preacher-friend told me a story about his little league days.
In 1953 there just four teams in his little town.
Their uniforms were just baseball caps and T-shirts dyed different colors.
They didn’t have much of a playing field –
there was barely discernable grass in the outfield, and there was nothing defining the base paths –
except for chalk lines down the first and third base lines.
He remembers playing two and three games a day on that beaten lot.
And every single time they played, he remembers Jack being there.
Jack was a man of no last name,
but Jack was the faithful soul who was always there and always laid down the chalk base lines for every game.
It didn’t take long for the chalk lines to be obliterated, but Jack would remark the lines after the third inning of each game to ensure the integrity of the playing field.
He said, “Jack, the chalk man was always there to mark the baselines of our play.”
And I thought, you know, that’s what this Risen Christ is always doing:
lining the pathways for us to follow.
He establishes the pathways between human beings and God,
pathways that are frequently obliterated by the struggling enthusiasm, and stubborn resistance of people like you and me.
The Risen Christ opens passages of love among people,
among cultures,
among nations again and again.
It happens when people feel the deep conviction of the love of Christ in their lives and know that they live under the command to share the gospel story of love.
There is a Gaelic legend that tells about an eagle swooping down and carrying a little baby off to his lofty nest up as high as the eagle could go on top of the mountain.
Needless to say, the people of the village were extremely upset about this.
And the strongest of the young villagers chased after the eagle.
They tried to scale the high rugged cliff to reach the eagle’s nest on top.
But, alas, one by one, each of the rugged young men fails.
Each one starts to lag.
Each one starts to draw back.
And as they languish, they see a thin young woman coming up the steep cliff behind them,
slowly and deliberately, finally overtaking them,
and even passing them, and going on to reach the nest on top.
The eagle is not there.
The baby is – and appears unhurt.
She picks up the baby, carefully wraps him up in her shawl and starts down the treacherous precipice carrying the unharmed baby in her shawl.
Needless-to-say, the men were astounded.
They asked, “How can you do that? – when we failed?”
And she tells them her secret: “I’m the baby’s mother.”
The point is that she had a conviction in her heart and soul which propelled her up the cliff to reclaim her child.
And that’s what Easter does for us.
That’s why we celebrate Easter each year at this time.
That’s why we celebrate Easter each and every Sunday when we gather in here in worship.
Easter is a conviction that says that something extraordinary is loose in our world, and compels us to live our lives into glory.
Christ is alive!
Christ is present today.
We see it again and again. If we only look.
If we only use the senses that have been given to us.
We encounter the presence of Christ through people who are ready to help one another through difficult times.
We encounter the presence of Christ through those who care for one another.
We encounter the presence of Christ through those who work for justice and are willing to protect the sacred rights of every person.
We encounter the presence of Christ among people who seek peace with a fervent desire to live in a world that is transformed by human action and divine love.
We encounter the presence of Christ with people who joyfully share the gift of love no matter the circumstance or cost.
And the kicker is, friends, you and I are called to be those people –
each and every one of us, is called to be –
helpers,
caregivers,
protectors of justice,
pursuers of peace
and witnesses to God’s love at work in the world.
You can look all you want among the dead for the one who lives.
But, you’ll never find the Christ there.
The direction was given to those women on that first Easter morning –
and the direction is given to you and me –
“He is not here.
He has been raised.
Go back to where you came from.
Go back to the communities, to the streets and byways where you live your lives.
That’s where you will find him.”
It’s a new world now.
It’s a new day!
There are new rules to play by!
Joy to the world!
Joy to you this Easter day!
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Demonstrating Your Faith
True religion is not unlike the circus.
It offers mystery, miracle, risk, and a glow that lingers through the years.
"When they ask what happened here,
We'll simply say Christ came by and we learned his dance..."
The Christ we remember riding into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday long ago,
the Christ we experience and know to be with us today in thick and in thin,
the Christ we call Lord,
is the Lord of the Dance,
the Lord of all that is our life.
Parades seem to have a way of stirring up emotions and releasing us from inhibitions, don’t they?
(I believe that is one of the main motivating factors for those who participate in the Mummers Day Parade each year.)
It's what we see in Marti Gras parades.
And it's what we see happening in our scripture reading today.
Contrary to some of the movies you have seen,
not every one in Jerusalem participated in the parade that day.
To be sure, most people didn't know anything was going on –
or hadn't a clue what it was about if they did see it happening.
It would have been not unlike a demonstration on Broad Street that tied up traffic during rush hour some day.
Unless you were there, and encountered the crowds, you wouldn't even have known what had happened.
And even if you were there, chances are you wouldn't have had a clue as what they were protesting, or celebrating.
But the parade into Jerusalem turned into one of the most significant events in the lives of the first century Christians.
In Jesus Christ, Superstar, the crowd sings a telling line:
"Christ, you know I love you. Did you see I waved?"
Know, that even then, the waving of palm branches is not exactly prescribed behavior.
They even took the clothes off their backs, laid them on the donkey,
and even spread them on the road for the donkey to walk on!
There was no parade manual providing direction for that –
no required rehearsals for the participants.
Yet, there was no hesitation about giving up their garments,
no wondering,
no debate as to whether there might be a cheaper, more dignified way to show love and respect.
They just did it.
"Christ, you know I love you. Did you see I waved?"
Now, I have a hunch that you and I most probably would have reacted on that day pretty much like the Presbyterians we are.
If we were there,
and if we knew what was going on,
we would have been on the sidelines watching the parade, wouldn’t we? –
perhaps even thinking condescending thoughts about those that were getting carried away.
"Christ, you know I love you. Did you see I waved?"
Each year, we hear this story.
And each year it is harder for us to really relate to it.
But the message for us today is clear: "Lighten up!"
Like those who participated in the parade, lighten up . . . .
lighten up . . . . to love and laughter!
Be open and flexible enough to meet any glory that happens to come our way –
any passing parade – wherever, whenever.
Bend with it. Bend to it.
You know, it seems that we tend to stay underwhelmed because we refuse to be overwhelmed by the incredible good news of the gospel.
Too many of us live by the depressing dictum:
"Expect the worse, and you'll never be disappointed."
But, friends, that is most unChristian.
Sins of inertia are far harder to overcome than any mistakes of passion.
Seize the moment,
even if it makes us late –
or truant – for something else.
When Zacchaeus of Jericho heard that Jesus was coming to town, he shut down his tax office and climbed a tree, and that day changed his whole life.
"Christ, you know I loved you. Did you see I waved?"
Remember that Martha was so intent on keeping the meal on schedule that she missed an unrepeatable opportunity to enjoy the company of Jesus.
Stop apologizing for spontaneous celebrations.
We say, "Sorry, I was beside myself,"
or "I just got carried away."
Some of you may remember the philosopher’s (Soren Kierkegaard's) story of the geese sequestered in a yard.
Every seventh day these geese paraded to a corner of the yard, and their most eloquent orator got up on the fence and spoke of the wonders of geese.
He told of the exploits of their forefathers who dared to mount up on wings and fly all over the sky.
He spoke of the mercy of the creator who had given geese wings – and the instinct to fly.
This deeply impressed the geese, who nodded their heads solemnly.
All this they did.
Every week they would gather and hear this story over and over and over again.
One thing they did not do, though:
they did not fly.
They did not fly for the corn was good,
and the barnyard was safe and secure.
However brief and passing it was, Palm Sunday provided people with a chance to fly.
"Christ, you know I love you. Did you see I waved?"
There is a story about a boy who wanted very much to go to the circus.
However, the circus was only to be in town one day, Sunday, and his mother, who always insisted on a proper observance of the Lord's day, was reluctant to let him go.
Finally, she gave in to his pleadings and the boy was permitted to see the circus, this one time!
After the show was over the boy returned home, and his mother asked what he thought of the show.
With visions of daring young men on the flying trapeze, and elephants, and clowns still in his head, the boy replied, "Mama, if you ever get to go to the circus, just once, you'll never want to go to church again!..."
After telling this story, a commentator writes:
"In fact, the circus analogy is not altogether out of place with regard to the church.
True worship is a grand celebration,
properly accompanied by excitement and prospects of abiding joy...
true religion is not unlike the circus.
It offers mystery, miracle, risk, and a glow that lingers through the years."
In a poem about Palm Sunday, Ann Weems
suggests:
"When they ask what happened here,
We'll simply say
Christ came by and we learned his dance..."
And then, turning as if to speak to each of us, she
asks:
Are you a dancer who's never danced?
Are you a singer who's never sung?
Are you a laugher who holds it in?
Are you a weeper who's afraid to cry?
Are you someone who cares, but is afraid to love?
Do you have an alleluia deep inside you growing
rusty?
One writer said, "if we left it to the Spirit,
there would be nothing in the church but Jesus and
dancing.
That's right.
If we left it to the spirit,
there would be only the Way and the celebrating.
The Love and the alleluias.
The Living and the joy.
The Gift and the thank you.
The Song and the singing.
The Dance and the dancing.
The Good News and the shouting.
But do we believe it?"
"Christ, you know I love you. Did you see I waved?"
(Maybe there's more.)
The Christ we remember riding into Jerusalem
that Palm Sunday long ago,
the Christ we experience and know to be with us today in thick and in thin,
the Christ we call Lord,
is the Lord of the Dance,
the Lord of all that is our life.
To you and to me, on this Palm Sunday, the message is:
to Lighten up.
Dance your dance.
Sing your song.
Laugh out loud.
For the Lord is coming.
The Lord is here!
Hosanna!
Alleluia!
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, experienced this sermon during a worship service on Palm Sunday, March 24, 2013.
It offers mystery, miracle, risk, and a glow that lingers through the years.
"When they ask what happened here,
We'll simply say Christ came by and we learned his dance..."
The Christ we remember riding into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday long ago,
the Christ we experience and know to be with us today in thick and in thin,
the Christ we call Lord,
is the Lord of the Dance,
the Lord of all that is our life.
Parades seem to have a way of stirring up emotions and releasing us from inhibitions, don’t they?
(I believe that is one of the main motivating factors for those who participate in the Mummers Day Parade each year.)
It's what we see in Marti Gras parades.
And it's what we see happening in our scripture reading today.
Contrary to some of the movies you have seen,
not every one in Jerusalem participated in the parade that day.
To be sure, most people didn't know anything was going on –
or hadn't a clue what it was about if they did see it happening.
It would have been not unlike a demonstration on Broad Street that tied up traffic during rush hour some day.
Unless you were there, and encountered the crowds, you wouldn't even have known what had happened.
And even if you were there, chances are you wouldn't have had a clue as what they were protesting, or celebrating.
But the parade into Jerusalem turned into one of the most significant events in the lives of the first century Christians.
In Jesus Christ, Superstar, the crowd sings a telling line:
"Christ, you know I love you. Did you see I waved?"
Know, that even then, the waving of palm branches is not exactly prescribed behavior.
They even took the clothes off their backs, laid them on the donkey,
and even spread them on the road for the donkey to walk on!
There was no parade manual providing direction for that –
no required rehearsals for the participants.
Yet, there was no hesitation about giving up their garments,
no wondering,
no debate as to whether there might be a cheaper, more dignified way to show love and respect.
They just did it.
"Christ, you know I love you. Did you see I waved?"
Now, I have a hunch that you and I most probably would have reacted on that day pretty much like the Presbyterians we are.
If we were there,
and if we knew what was going on,
we would have been on the sidelines watching the parade, wouldn’t we? –
perhaps even thinking condescending thoughts about those that were getting carried away.
"Christ, you know I love you. Did you see I waved?"
Each year, we hear this story.
And each year it is harder for us to really relate to it.
But the message for us today is clear: "Lighten up!"
Like those who participated in the parade, lighten up . . . .
lighten up . . . . to love and laughter!
Be open and flexible enough to meet any glory that happens to come our way –
any passing parade – wherever, whenever.
Bend with it. Bend to it.
You know, it seems that we tend to stay underwhelmed because we refuse to be overwhelmed by the incredible good news of the gospel.
Too many of us live by the depressing dictum:
"Expect the worse, and you'll never be disappointed."
But, friends, that is most unChristian.
Sins of inertia are far harder to overcome than any mistakes of passion.
Seize the moment,
even if it makes us late –
or truant – for something else.
When Zacchaeus of Jericho heard that Jesus was coming to town, he shut down his tax office and climbed a tree, and that day changed his whole life.
"Christ, you know I loved you. Did you see I waved?"
Remember that Martha was so intent on keeping the meal on schedule that she missed an unrepeatable opportunity to enjoy the company of Jesus.
Stop apologizing for spontaneous celebrations.
We say, "Sorry, I was beside myself,"
or "I just got carried away."
Some of you may remember the philosopher’s (Soren Kierkegaard's) story of the geese sequestered in a yard.
Every seventh day these geese paraded to a corner of the yard, and their most eloquent orator got up on the fence and spoke of the wonders of geese.
He told of the exploits of their forefathers who dared to mount up on wings and fly all over the sky.
He spoke of the mercy of the creator who had given geese wings – and the instinct to fly.
This deeply impressed the geese, who nodded their heads solemnly.
All this they did.
Every week they would gather and hear this story over and over and over again.
One thing they did not do, though:
they did not fly.
They did not fly for the corn was good,
and the barnyard was safe and secure.
However brief and passing it was, Palm Sunday provided people with a chance to fly.
"Christ, you know I love you. Did you see I waved?"
There is a story about a boy who wanted very much to go to the circus.
However, the circus was only to be in town one day, Sunday, and his mother, who always insisted on a proper observance of the Lord's day, was reluctant to let him go.
Finally, she gave in to his pleadings and the boy was permitted to see the circus, this one time!
After the show was over the boy returned home, and his mother asked what he thought of the show.
With visions of daring young men on the flying trapeze, and elephants, and clowns still in his head, the boy replied, "Mama, if you ever get to go to the circus, just once, you'll never want to go to church again!..."
After telling this story, a commentator writes:
"In fact, the circus analogy is not altogether out of place with regard to the church.
True worship is a grand celebration,
properly accompanied by excitement and prospects of abiding joy...
true religion is not unlike the circus.
It offers mystery, miracle, risk, and a glow that lingers through the years."
In a poem about Palm Sunday, Ann Weems
suggests:
"When they ask what happened here,
We'll simply say
Christ came by and we learned his dance..."
And then, turning as if to speak to each of us, she
asks:
Are you a dancer who's never danced?
Are you a singer who's never sung?
Are you a laugher who holds it in?
Are you a weeper who's afraid to cry?
Are you someone who cares, but is afraid to love?
Do you have an alleluia deep inside you growing
rusty?
One writer said, "if we left it to the Spirit,
there would be nothing in the church but Jesus and
dancing.
That's right.
If we left it to the spirit,
there would be only the Way and the celebrating.
The Love and the alleluias.
The Living and the joy.
The Gift and the thank you.
The Song and the singing.
The Dance and the dancing.
The Good News and the shouting.
But do we believe it?"
"Christ, you know I love you. Did you see I waved?"
(Maybe there's more.)
The Christ we remember riding into Jerusalem
that Palm Sunday long ago,
the Christ we experience and know to be with us today in thick and in thin,
the Christ we call Lord,
is the Lord of the Dance,
the Lord of all that is our life.
To you and to me, on this Palm Sunday, the message is:
to Lighten up.
Dance your dance.
Sing your song.
Laugh out loud.
For the Lord is coming.
The Lord is here!
Hosanna!
Alleluia!
Amen.
The congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, experienced this sermon during a worship service on Palm Sunday, March 24, 2013.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Observing Lent the Lord's Way: Help the Needy
Almsgiving, generous giving for the needs of others, was expected among the people Jesus spoke to that day.
It is expected for us as well.
But, Jesus carries the act of giving a step further.
You are expected to give generously,
but when you do,
do it quietly,
without fanfare,
so no one will know what you did.
This Jesus stuff seems so far out of synch with the rest of the world around us, that sometimes for some people, it is just easier to drop out.
If you don’t hear about it, and don’t read it, life is easier.
Deuteronomy 15:7-11
Matthew 6:2-4, 21-24
So, this is the fifth Sunday in Lent - the season the church sets aside to encourage folks to prepare for Easter.
Remembering that Jesus reportedly took 40 days to prepare himself for his ministry, all believers are encouraged to spend 40 days to get ready to experience Easter.
In preparation for this time here at Christ Church I began with the question we should probably always begin with: “What would Jesus do?”
How would Jesus observe Lent?
And, wouldn’t you know it, Jesus left us some specific instructions.
And, they are found right here in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew (part of the Sermon on the Mount).
But, they are instructions virtually ignored as far as I can tell, by most folks who so piously observe Lent each year– or at least who start out intent on observing Lent each year on Ash Wednesday.
And, so for a month now, we have dealing with these Lenten themes that, if followed, would radically change our way of doing things, and
might even change our life,
and certainly give us new reason for Easter hope and a basis to understand just what happened and why it is still celebrated after some 2000 years.
The first week, we talked about the importance of just taking time to take a time out each day for 40 days – as Jesus did.
The second week, we looked at what Jesus said about not making public displays of our faith – remembering he specifically admonished believers to keep your face washed and keep your hair combed so as not to reveal your private religious practices.
The third week, we saw how Jesus expected us to fast during this time.
But, not fast like your grandfathers and grandmothers,
not fast like the rest of society,
no, Jesus notes that God completely redefines the concept and meaning of the word.
And, the fourth week we looked at Prayer – how it is so important to our life as believers – but, how it is to be kept private at all times.
(Remember, if you missed something, all the sermons are on-line on our church website.)
And today, we are looking at Jesus’ expectation that we would be generous in helping the needy, the troubled, the poor, the hurting.
There's a Dennis the Menace cartoon, which shows Dennis and Joey leaving the Wilson's front porch, each with a handful of cookies.
Joey has this surprised look on his face and Dennis says, "Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we're nice, but because she's nice."
And, Dennis is right on target.
It's not what we do but what God does for us.
We love God because God loves us.
It is one of the very central messages of Jesus:
Our generosity is motivated by our reciprocal love for God.
This has been a part the faith we have been a part of from the very beginning.
In the passage we read from Deuteronomy a while ago, (part of Moses’ farewell address to the Hebrews), God reminds the believers to always open your purse, and open your hands,
and give generously to neighbors in trouble,
the poor, the hurting.
So almsgiving, generous giving for the needs of others, was expected among the people spoke to that day.
It is expected for us as well.
But, Jesus carries the act of giving a step further.
You are expected to give generously,
but when you do,
do it quietly,
without fanfare,
so no one will know what you did.
Jesus says here, "You do what you do in secret; no fanfare, not looking for the applause and glory of men, but only for the glory of God, and "your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
There is an apocryphal story that I have read in several places, perhaps you have read as well:
In the 19th Century a member of the British Parliament travelled to Scotland to make a speech. His carriage became mired in a bad road and a Scottish farm boy came to his aid with a team of horses.
Even though he was already late getting home and he knew his dad would be greatly upset, the boy took the hour and a half necessary to get this man out of the mud.
The man said, "Son, how much do I owe you?"
The farm boy, who could have used the money, said, "Nothing, Sir, I was just glad to help you. I just fulfilled the Golden Rule."
The man said, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
He said, "I'd like to be a doctor."
The Parliamentarian got this boy's name and years later paid for this Scottish farm boy to go to the university to become a doctor.
Fifty years passed and a world leader lay deathly sick with an infection in the country of Morocco.
A wonder drug was administered,
a new drug called penicillin,
which was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming. Alexander Fleming was the young Scottish lad with the team of horses,
and the man who had sponsored his education was Lord Randolph Churchill, the father of Winston Churchill, who was the sick statesman who recovered.
Take God's word for it.
He has a way of rewarding even a cup of cold water given in His name.
So whatever you do, do it for His eyes only.
Do it for His glory only,
and your reward will be great,
both on earth and in Heaven.
Then Jesus went further with the ominous warning:
“No person can serve two masters. Your heart will always be where your treasure it.”
A number of years ago Bob Dylan wrote a song you may remember.
It is about this point and
It goes like this:
You may be an Ambassador
to England or France,
You may like to gamble
you might like to dance;
You may be the heavyweight
champion of the world,
You might be a socialite
with a long string of pearls;
But you're gonna have to
serve somebody...
May be a construction worker,
working on a home
Might be living in a mansion
you might live in a dome;
You may own guns and you
may even own tanks;
You may be somebody's landlord
you may even own banks;
But you're gonna have to
serve somebody.
There are people who actually study this stuff and publish the results of their studies on an annual basis.
One of the findings is that Christians pay more in interest [on loans, credit cards, etc]
(9.8% of their income)
than they give to the church."
(Southern Baptists give 2.3% of their income.)
The fact is that overall, among church goers, over a third (nearly 40%), give absolutely nothing to their church.
One of the researchers reminds us what Jesus said here in the sermon on the mount.
The greatest threat to our faith is not gay marriage, is not contraception,
is not a woman’s right to choose,
is not drugs,
is not sex,
is not murder,
is not rape,
or is not even politicians;
the greatest threat is “materialism."
You can’t serve both God and mammon, Jesus said.
Now, here’s the thing. It sometimes very hard for us to separate things out, isn’t it?
Sometimes we start out doing something for the right reason and somewhere along the line it becomes something else altogether.
For all of my ministry, I have had an interest in how church takes on many different forms – and especially how traditional churches become transformed into something they weren’t.
Our Presbyterian church is engaged in a project to enable and develop 1001 new worshiping communities all over the country.
Some of these worshiping communities meet in cafes,
some meet in taverns,
some meet in theaters.
Some established churches like ours, have decided that their mission is to be in mission and I have read about a few that have sold their buildings and purchased facilities with a kitchen to feed the hungry.
But, as you and I well know, it is very easy to get sidetracked sometimes from our primary purpose and mission.
There was this one church . . .
Well, this guy writes how he was looking for a place to eat while visiting Atlanta. And he
"I noticed in the Yellow Pages in the listing of restaurants, an entry for a place called Church of God Grill.
The peculiar name aroused my curiosity and I dialed the number.
A man answered with a cheery "Hello! Church of God Grill!"
I asked how his restaurant had been given such an unusual name, and he told me:
"Well, we had a little mission down here and we started selling chicken dinners after church on Sunday to help pay the bills.
Well, people liked the chicken and we did such a good business that eventually we cut back on the church service.
After awhile we just closed down the church altogether and kept on serving the chicken dinners and kept the name we started with Church of God Grill."
No one can serve two masters, Jesus said.
Most of Jesus’ teaching challenges conventional wisdom, the sort of common sense everyone accepts, which means that to be his follower requires a great deal of un-teaching and un-learning and re-programming.
Life as a companion and understudy of Jesus is most often upside-down, inside-out, and bottom-side-up from the way the world operates under current management.
For sure, our first impulse is to domesticate the teaching and take away the edge.
And so, we skip over parts of the scripture that disturb us.
Or look for loop-holes.
But it is pretty hard to ignore certain things.
This Jesus stuff seems so far out of synch with the rest of the world around us, that sometimes for some people, it is just easier to drop out.
If you don’t hear about it, and don’t read it, life is easier.
But, believers have an edge.
Jesus talked about it a lot.
In fact, he said his whole reason for being was so you and I can know what real living is about.
As you and I get ready to observe the single most important event in our world’s history, let us remember that Jesus knew what Moses commanded the believers:
Be generous,
open your purse,
open your hands,
give to your neighbors in trouble,
give to the poor,
help the hurting.
But, don’t make a show of it, Jesus said.
Do it quietly,
without fanfare,
so no one will know.
And, the truth of the matter is that your heart will always be with what matters most to you –
On this St. Patrick’s Day, may this prayer guide you today and in the days ahead:
I bind myself to God's power to guide me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to shelter me,
God's host to secure me...
Against the snares of demons,
against the seductions of vices,
against the lusts of nature,
against everyone who meditates injury to me, whether far or near, few or many.
Amen.
This sermon was shared with the congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 17, 2013.
It is expected for us as well.
But, Jesus carries the act of giving a step further.
You are expected to give generously,
but when you do,
do it quietly,
without fanfare,
so no one will know what you did.
This Jesus stuff seems so far out of synch with the rest of the world around us, that sometimes for some people, it is just easier to drop out.
If you don’t hear about it, and don’t read it, life is easier.
Deuteronomy 15:7-11
Matthew 6:2-4, 21-24
So, this is the fifth Sunday in Lent - the season the church sets aside to encourage folks to prepare for Easter.
Remembering that Jesus reportedly took 40 days to prepare himself for his ministry, all believers are encouraged to spend 40 days to get ready to experience Easter.
In preparation for this time here at Christ Church I began with the question we should probably always begin with: “What would Jesus do?”
How would Jesus observe Lent?
And, wouldn’t you know it, Jesus left us some specific instructions.
And, they are found right here in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew (part of the Sermon on the Mount).
But, they are instructions virtually ignored as far as I can tell, by most folks who so piously observe Lent each year– or at least who start out intent on observing Lent each year on Ash Wednesday.
And, so for a month now, we have dealing with these Lenten themes that, if followed, would radically change our way of doing things, and
might even change our life,
and certainly give us new reason for Easter hope and a basis to understand just what happened and why it is still celebrated after some 2000 years.
The first week, we talked about the importance of just taking time to take a time out each day for 40 days – as Jesus did.
The second week, we looked at what Jesus said about not making public displays of our faith – remembering he specifically admonished believers to keep your face washed and keep your hair combed so as not to reveal your private religious practices.
The third week, we saw how Jesus expected us to fast during this time.
But, not fast like your grandfathers and grandmothers,
not fast like the rest of society,
no, Jesus notes that God completely redefines the concept and meaning of the word.
And, the fourth week we looked at Prayer – how it is so important to our life as believers – but, how it is to be kept private at all times.
(Remember, if you missed something, all the sermons are on-line on our church website.)
And today, we are looking at Jesus’ expectation that we would be generous in helping the needy, the troubled, the poor, the hurting.
There's a Dennis the Menace cartoon, which shows Dennis and Joey leaving the Wilson's front porch, each with a handful of cookies.
Joey has this surprised look on his face and Dennis says, "Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we're nice, but because she's nice."
And, Dennis is right on target.
It's not what we do but what God does for us.
We love God because God loves us.
It is one of the very central messages of Jesus:
Our generosity is motivated by our reciprocal love for God.
This has been a part the faith we have been a part of from the very beginning.
In the passage we read from Deuteronomy a while ago, (part of Moses’ farewell address to the Hebrews), God reminds the believers to always open your purse, and open your hands,
and give generously to neighbors in trouble,
the poor, the hurting.
So almsgiving, generous giving for the needs of others, was expected among the people spoke to that day.
It is expected for us as well.
But, Jesus carries the act of giving a step further.
You are expected to give generously,
but when you do,
do it quietly,
without fanfare,
so no one will know what you did.
Jesus says here, "You do what you do in secret; no fanfare, not looking for the applause and glory of men, but only for the glory of God, and "your Father who sees in secret will reward you."
There is an apocryphal story that I have read in several places, perhaps you have read as well:
In the 19th Century a member of the British Parliament travelled to Scotland to make a speech. His carriage became mired in a bad road and a Scottish farm boy came to his aid with a team of horses.
Even though he was already late getting home and he knew his dad would be greatly upset, the boy took the hour and a half necessary to get this man out of the mud.
The man said, "Son, how much do I owe you?"
The farm boy, who could have used the money, said, "Nothing, Sir, I was just glad to help you. I just fulfilled the Golden Rule."
The man said, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
He said, "I'd like to be a doctor."
The Parliamentarian got this boy's name and years later paid for this Scottish farm boy to go to the university to become a doctor.
Fifty years passed and a world leader lay deathly sick with an infection in the country of Morocco.
A wonder drug was administered,
a new drug called penicillin,
which was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming. Alexander Fleming was the young Scottish lad with the team of horses,
and the man who had sponsored his education was Lord Randolph Churchill, the father of Winston Churchill, who was the sick statesman who recovered.
Take God's word for it.
He has a way of rewarding even a cup of cold water given in His name.
So whatever you do, do it for His eyes only.
Do it for His glory only,
and your reward will be great,
both on earth and in Heaven.
Then Jesus went further with the ominous warning:
“No person can serve two masters. Your heart will always be where your treasure it.”
A number of years ago Bob Dylan wrote a song you may remember.
It is about this point and
It goes like this:
You may be an Ambassador
to England or France,
You may like to gamble
you might like to dance;
You may be the heavyweight
champion of the world,
You might be a socialite
with a long string of pearls;
But you're gonna have to
serve somebody...
May be a construction worker,
working on a home
Might be living in a mansion
you might live in a dome;
You may own guns and you
may even own tanks;
You may be somebody's landlord
you may even own banks;
But you're gonna have to
serve somebody.
There are people who actually study this stuff and publish the results of their studies on an annual basis.
One of the findings is that Christians pay more in interest [on loans, credit cards, etc]
(9.8% of their income)
than they give to the church."
(Southern Baptists give 2.3% of their income.)
The fact is that overall, among church goers, over a third (nearly 40%), give absolutely nothing to their church.
One of the researchers reminds us what Jesus said here in the sermon on the mount.
The greatest threat to our faith is not gay marriage, is not contraception,
is not a woman’s right to choose,
is not drugs,
is not sex,
is not murder,
is not rape,
or is not even politicians;
the greatest threat is “materialism."
You can’t serve both God and mammon, Jesus said.
Now, here’s the thing. It sometimes very hard for us to separate things out, isn’t it?
Sometimes we start out doing something for the right reason and somewhere along the line it becomes something else altogether.
For all of my ministry, I have had an interest in how church takes on many different forms – and especially how traditional churches become transformed into something they weren’t.
Our Presbyterian church is engaged in a project to enable and develop 1001 new worshiping communities all over the country.
Some of these worshiping communities meet in cafes,
some meet in taverns,
some meet in theaters.
Some established churches like ours, have decided that their mission is to be in mission and I have read about a few that have sold their buildings and purchased facilities with a kitchen to feed the hungry.
But, as you and I well know, it is very easy to get sidetracked sometimes from our primary purpose and mission.
There was this one church . . .
Well, this guy writes how he was looking for a place to eat while visiting Atlanta. And he
"I noticed in the Yellow Pages in the listing of restaurants, an entry for a place called Church of God Grill.
The peculiar name aroused my curiosity and I dialed the number.
A man answered with a cheery "Hello! Church of God Grill!"
I asked how his restaurant had been given such an unusual name, and he told me:
"Well, we had a little mission down here and we started selling chicken dinners after church on Sunday to help pay the bills.
Well, people liked the chicken and we did such a good business that eventually we cut back on the church service.
After awhile we just closed down the church altogether and kept on serving the chicken dinners and kept the name we started with Church of God Grill."
No one can serve two masters, Jesus said.
Most of Jesus’ teaching challenges conventional wisdom, the sort of common sense everyone accepts, which means that to be his follower requires a great deal of un-teaching and un-learning and re-programming.
Life as a companion and understudy of Jesus is most often upside-down, inside-out, and bottom-side-up from the way the world operates under current management.
For sure, our first impulse is to domesticate the teaching and take away the edge.
And so, we skip over parts of the scripture that disturb us.
Or look for loop-holes.
But it is pretty hard to ignore certain things.
This Jesus stuff seems so far out of synch with the rest of the world around us, that sometimes for some people, it is just easier to drop out.
If you don’t hear about it, and don’t read it, life is easier.
But, believers have an edge.
Jesus talked about it a lot.
In fact, he said his whole reason for being was so you and I can know what real living is about.
As you and I get ready to observe the single most important event in our world’s history, let us remember that Jesus knew what Moses commanded the believers:
Be generous,
open your purse,
open your hands,
give to your neighbors in trouble,
give to the poor,
help the hurting.
But, don’t make a show of it, Jesus said.
Do it quietly,
without fanfare,
so no one will know.
And, the truth of the matter is that your heart will always be with what matters most to you –
On this St. Patrick’s Day, may this prayer guide you today and in the days ahead:
I bind myself to God's power to guide me,
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to shelter me,
God's host to secure me...
Against the snares of demons,
against the seductions of vices,
against the lusts of nature,
against everyone who meditates injury to me, whether far or near, few or many.
Amen.
This sermon was shared with the congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, the Fifth Sunday of Lent, March 17, 2013.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Observing Lent the Lord’s Way: Pray
Prayer is a private matter –
privileged communication –
between you and your God.
It is no one else’s business!
Yes, they thought they knew how to pray.
Just like we think we know how to pray.
But, Jesus told them, and Jesus tells us,
they had it wrong, and most of us have it wrong.
In God we live and have our being, and prayer is as natural as breathing.
We come as we are.
God is already present.
As soon as we tune in, the exchange begins.
Habakkuk 3:2, 17-19
Matthew 6: 5-9
Today is the fourth Sunday of Lent.
Lent is a fascinating time in the church year that Presbyterians are only beginning to appreciate.
Used to be, as you know, we never observed Lent in Presbyterian churches.
But, today we see this time as an opportunity to attend to the parts of our lives that we often neglect.
From the very earliest times, Christians took time out before Easter to reflect on their faith, cultivate it, and prepare for a most joyous celebration of Easter.
Remembering that Jesus took 40 days off to prepare for the beginning of his ministry, the church sets aside these 40 days prior to Easter for us to get ready.
I have been concerned for some time that we in the church are somewhat off track with our Lenten emphases each year.
So I decided to do something a little different this year.
This year I am exploring what it would be like if we observed Lent according to what Jesus said.
So, I am calling the series: Observing Lent the Lord’s Way.
The first Sunday, we observed how Jesus took that time off.
He took time to take a time out - for 40 days.
It obviously was of great benefit to him as he was about to start his earthly ministry.
And, the promise is that it could be of great benefit to us, as well, if we were to take the time to take a time out each day for this time before Easter.
And, two weeks ago I reminded us that Jesus left some pretty specific instructions about how we should observe Lent.
Oh, to be sure, Jesus never observed Lent, and Jesus wouldn’t understand what Lent has become,
but, Jesus was very concerned about appropriate behavior for people of faith.
And he spells a lot of this out in the sixth chapter of Matthew.
The very first thing Jesus addresses in the first verse of Matthew’s chapter 6 is to “Make certain you do not perform your religious duties in public - so that people will see what you do.”
Jesus says that God is just not interested in public displays of faith.
In fact, we should wash our face and comb our hair so others will not have a clue as to what we may up to.
Last week we heard what Jesus about fasting:
when you fast, he said, don’t do like the hypocrites do by putting on a sad face and making a show of it,
but make sure you wash your face and comb your hair so others won’t know what you are doing.
Fasting had become an integral part how faithful folks practiced their faith.
Fasting was understood, and expected.
So he said, “When you fast” . . .
Not “if you fast”.
“Don’t make a show of it, so others will know what you are doing.”
In fact, Jesus completely redefines the whole concept of fasting. (Check out what I said last week, it’s on line on our website.)
And, here in the fifth verse of the sixth chapter of Matthew, Jesus gives us instruction on prayer.
We are encouraged to pray.
It is part and parcel of our faith.
Prayer was an important part of Jesus’ life and whole being.
And he had some pointed things to say about how we should observe Lent this year.
Jesus told those gathered on the mountain that day, and he tells us, to pray –
but never ever make a show of it,
don’t be like those hypocrites,
just don’t pray in public.
In fact, when you do pray, be sure to go to your room and shut the door.
Prayer is a private matter –
privileged communication –
between you and your God.
It is no one else’s business!
And, Jesus doesn’t stop there, does he?
And, another thing, Jesus says, “when you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words.”
Keep it simple.
There is no magic formula that needs to be said.
There are no “holy’‘ words to memorize.
And nothing is gained by making prayers long.
Then, Jesus gives the example.
This is how a prayer should be.
And, he begins: “Our Father, who art in heaven . . .”
What we call The Lord’s Prayer .”
Prayer was a big thing to Jesus.
He seemed to be praying all the time.
He prayed before and during all major events in his life that we find in our Bible.
And, prayer was a big thing to people of faith in Jesus time.
But, Jesus thought that what people were doing with prayer was off-base.
The people observed what the priests and holy ones did and heard how the prayed.
They learned how to pray from them.
And they learned their lessons well.
But, Jesus said, that’s not what real prayer is.
Think about it, God knows you and God knows your heart,
God knows your need – as well as your joys – even before you are aware of them.
God doesn’t need a lot of gooble-de-gook from you.
God needs just for you to recognize what’s going on in the world around you and how you fit in to it.
And, most certainly, God is not impressed with public displays of prayer in any way shape or form.
When you engage a public display of prayer you are doing it for your own reward from those who see you – and those who may hear you.
In fact, the only honest prayer comes when you are in private, out of sight, behind closed doors.
Yes, they thought they knew how to pray.
Just like we think we know how to pray.
After all, most of us have been praying for years and years.
But, Jesus told them,
and Jesus tells us,
they had it wrong,
and most of us have it wrong.
Sam Walker Foss puts this into perspective with his poem "Cyrus Brown's Prayer":
"The proper way for man to pray,"
Said Deacon Lemuel Keyes,
"And the only proper attitude,
Is down upon his knees."
"No, I should say the way to pray,"
Said Reverend Dr. Wise,
"Is standing straight with outstretched arms,
And rapt and upturned eyes."
"Oh, no, no, no!" said Elder Slow,
"Such posture is too proud;
A man should pray with eyes fast closed,
And head contritely bowed."
"It seems to me his hands should be
Austerely clasped in front.
With both thumbs pointing toward the ground,"
Said Reverend Dr. Blunt.
"Las' year I fell in Hodgkin's well
Head first," said Cyrus Brown.
"With both my heels a-stickin' up,
My head a-pointin' down;
"An' I made a prayer right then an' there
Best prayer I ever said,
The Prayin'est prayer I ever prayed,
A-standin' on my head."
One preacher reminds us that part of the difficulty lies in the fact that we do not live in a praying world. It is a frightened and frightening world, but it is not a world that knows how to pray.
It perhaps would like to pray, but many have given up on the task.
It is a world that contains many who prayed once, but have given up the effort.
There are many gifted people in this world, who do the best they can to meet the challenges of a troubled world and who seek to become worthwhile people and contributing members to society.
But through it all there is a sense of isolation from God and because of that isolation, they feel alone in their struggle.
The real problem is that most of us were never taught about what prayer is and can be.
We grew up confusing the God and our discourse with God and Santa,
from whom we asked many gifts and favors.
Well-meaning church theologians haven't helped much either.
Their definitions and discussions on the matter often leave us cold and confused.
I even heard one well-known theologian in a seminar say: "Prayer is basically man in the totality of being stretched out to possess the transcendent, awesome God in the intimate inwardness of his deepest consciousness."
That sure clarifies things and sets our hearts and minds to the task, doesn't it?
Some you may have read Olive Ann Burn’s book, Cold Sassy Tree.
One of the characters, Grandpa Rucker, is a pretty lively character who can be counted on to dispense wisdom born of experience.
Listen to what Grandpa Rucker says:
"Another thang to think on: some folks ain't said pea-turkey to God in years.
They don't ast Him for nothin',
don't specially try to be good,
and don't love nobody the way Jesus said to 'cept their own self.
But they go'n git jest bout as much or as little in the way a-earthly goods as the rest of us.
They go'n have sorrows and joys,
failure and good times.
And when they come down sick they go'n git well or die, one,
jest same as the prayin' folks.
So don't thet tell you something bout prayin'?
Ain't the best prayin' jest bein' with God and talkin' a while,
like He's a good friend,
stead a-like he runs a store and you've come in a-hopin' to get a bargain?"
(When you pray, say Father – Papa – Daddy – )
Grandpa Rucker got to the heart of the matter our hearts.
Prayer is being in communion with God, not something to be used when needs arise.
Prayer is being in relationship so that God can speak to us,
more than our pestering God with a grocery list of wants.
Prayer is finding peace in the midst of troubles,
calm in the midst of calamity,
and love in the midst of our loneliness.
It is not that we don't know how to pray;
it is that we have lost what it means to be in relationship with a loving, hearing, forgiving and gracious God.
Prayer is the only skill the disciples ever asked Jesus to teach them.
They didn't ask him how to heal,
or to teach,
or to ask for money,
or to run meetings,
or to do miracles,
or to manage crowds,
or to organize a movement
or start a church.
They asked him to teach them how to pray.
And Jesus said. When you pray, say "Our Father."
Our Father.
Not our God, Lord, commander, master.
Our Father.
Prayer was the way he began every important step of his life.
Anne Lamott thinks there are really three essential prayers.
Three things that spur our relationship with our God.
The three prayers that are genuine, most real, and so basic are:
Help,
Thanks,
and Wow.
Friends, you can write this down and take it with you: Prayer is simply being together with God.
Acknowledging that you are always in God's presence.
Prayer is mutual awareness and the quiet exchange, as when two friends sit before a fire.
Prayer involves exchange.
Just knowing that the power of the infinite surrounds us in all we do, we offer an effort to live a good life.
We give to God our human loves and our daily chores.
We give to God our small efforts to create a better world.
We share with God all our concerns,
for that is what friends do, isn't it?
Most of us live busy lives, and when we pray unceasingly, much of our prayer takes place on the run.
Whether we operate machinery,
change diapers and wash dishes,
or grapple with problems at a desk or on a phone, we too can have those moments of heightened awareness and greater exchange with the Mystery that is always right where we are.
We have people, concerns, and appreciations to hold up to God as we bathe and dress,
as we drive from place to place,
as we stand in the line at the bank or grocery store, as we wrestle with our responsibilities,
and as we relax with our friends.
Friends, the prayer of a good person has a powerful affect.
In God we live and have our being, and prayer is as natural as breathing.
We come as we are.
God is already present.
As soon as we tune in, the exchange begins.
It is usually quiet and low-key, but something profound is happening.
Many of you in this room can attest to the veracity of the words of James: The prayer of a good person has a powerful affect.
Prayer has an affect on others,
and prayer changes you.
Pray unceasingly.
Experience for yourself, the healing power of prayer.
And you will be well on your way to living a fuller life – a max-life.
This is prayer the Lord’s way.
This will help you to observe Lent the Lord’s way this year.
You are on the way toward the very best Easter ever!
Amen.
This sermon was shared with the congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, during a worship service, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 10, 2013.
privileged communication –
between you and your God.
It is no one else’s business!
Yes, they thought they knew how to pray.
Just like we think we know how to pray.
But, Jesus told them, and Jesus tells us,
they had it wrong, and most of us have it wrong.
In God we live and have our being, and prayer is as natural as breathing.
We come as we are.
God is already present.
As soon as we tune in, the exchange begins.
Habakkuk 3:2, 17-19
Matthew 6: 5-9
Today is the fourth Sunday of Lent.
Lent is a fascinating time in the church year that Presbyterians are only beginning to appreciate.
Used to be, as you know, we never observed Lent in Presbyterian churches.
But, today we see this time as an opportunity to attend to the parts of our lives that we often neglect.
From the very earliest times, Christians took time out before Easter to reflect on their faith, cultivate it, and prepare for a most joyous celebration of Easter.
Remembering that Jesus took 40 days off to prepare for the beginning of his ministry, the church sets aside these 40 days prior to Easter for us to get ready.
I have been concerned for some time that we in the church are somewhat off track with our Lenten emphases each year.
So I decided to do something a little different this year.
This year I am exploring what it would be like if we observed Lent according to what Jesus said.
So, I am calling the series: Observing Lent the Lord’s Way.
The first Sunday, we observed how Jesus took that time off.
He took time to take a time out - for 40 days.
It obviously was of great benefit to him as he was about to start his earthly ministry.
And, the promise is that it could be of great benefit to us, as well, if we were to take the time to take a time out each day for this time before Easter.
And, two weeks ago I reminded us that Jesus left some pretty specific instructions about how we should observe Lent.
Oh, to be sure, Jesus never observed Lent, and Jesus wouldn’t understand what Lent has become,
but, Jesus was very concerned about appropriate behavior for people of faith.
And he spells a lot of this out in the sixth chapter of Matthew.
The very first thing Jesus addresses in the first verse of Matthew’s chapter 6 is to “Make certain you do not perform your religious duties in public - so that people will see what you do.”
Jesus says that God is just not interested in public displays of faith.
In fact, we should wash our face and comb our hair so others will not have a clue as to what we may up to.
Last week we heard what Jesus about fasting:
when you fast, he said, don’t do like the hypocrites do by putting on a sad face and making a show of it,
but make sure you wash your face and comb your hair so others won’t know what you are doing.
Fasting had become an integral part how faithful folks practiced their faith.
Fasting was understood, and expected.
So he said, “When you fast” . . .
Not “if you fast”.
“Don’t make a show of it, so others will know what you are doing.”
In fact, Jesus completely redefines the whole concept of fasting. (Check out what I said last week, it’s on line on our website.)
And, here in the fifth verse of the sixth chapter of Matthew, Jesus gives us instruction on prayer.
We are encouraged to pray.
It is part and parcel of our faith.
Prayer was an important part of Jesus’ life and whole being.
And he had some pointed things to say about how we should observe Lent this year.
Jesus told those gathered on the mountain that day, and he tells us, to pray –
but never ever make a show of it,
don’t be like those hypocrites,
just don’t pray in public.
In fact, when you do pray, be sure to go to your room and shut the door.
Prayer is a private matter –
privileged communication –
between you and your God.
It is no one else’s business!
And, Jesus doesn’t stop there, does he?
And, another thing, Jesus says, “when you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words.”
Keep it simple.
There is no magic formula that needs to be said.
There are no “holy’‘ words to memorize.
And nothing is gained by making prayers long.
Then, Jesus gives the example.
This is how a prayer should be.
And, he begins: “Our Father, who art in heaven . . .”
What we call The Lord’s Prayer .”
Prayer was a big thing to Jesus.
He seemed to be praying all the time.
He prayed before and during all major events in his life that we find in our Bible.
And, prayer was a big thing to people of faith in Jesus time.
But, Jesus thought that what people were doing with prayer was off-base.
The people observed what the priests and holy ones did and heard how the prayed.
They learned how to pray from them.
And they learned their lessons well.
But, Jesus said, that’s not what real prayer is.
Think about it, God knows you and God knows your heart,
God knows your need – as well as your joys – even before you are aware of them.
God doesn’t need a lot of gooble-de-gook from you.
God needs just for you to recognize what’s going on in the world around you and how you fit in to it.
And, most certainly, God is not impressed with public displays of prayer in any way shape or form.
When you engage a public display of prayer you are doing it for your own reward from those who see you – and those who may hear you.
In fact, the only honest prayer comes when you are in private, out of sight, behind closed doors.
Yes, they thought they knew how to pray.
Just like we think we know how to pray.
After all, most of us have been praying for years and years.
But, Jesus told them,
and Jesus tells us,
they had it wrong,
and most of us have it wrong.
Sam Walker Foss puts this into perspective with his poem "Cyrus Brown's Prayer":
"The proper way for man to pray,"
Said Deacon Lemuel Keyes,
"And the only proper attitude,
Is down upon his knees."
"No, I should say the way to pray,"
Said Reverend Dr. Wise,
"Is standing straight with outstretched arms,
And rapt and upturned eyes."
"Oh, no, no, no!" said Elder Slow,
"Such posture is too proud;
A man should pray with eyes fast closed,
And head contritely bowed."
"It seems to me his hands should be
Austerely clasped in front.
With both thumbs pointing toward the ground,"
Said Reverend Dr. Blunt.
"Las' year I fell in Hodgkin's well
Head first," said Cyrus Brown.
"With both my heels a-stickin' up,
My head a-pointin' down;
"An' I made a prayer right then an' there
Best prayer I ever said,
The Prayin'est prayer I ever prayed,
A-standin' on my head."
One preacher reminds us that part of the difficulty lies in the fact that we do not live in a praying world. It is a frightened and frightening world, but it is not a world that knows how to pray.
It perhaps would like to pray, but many have given up on the task.
It is a world that contains many who prayed once, but have given up the effort.
There are many gifted people in this world, who do the best they can to meet the challenges of a troubled world and who seek to become worthwhile people and contributing members to society.
But through it all there is a sense of isolation from God and because of that isolation, they feel alone in their struggle.
The real problem is that most of us were never taught about what prayer is and can be.
We grew up confusing the God and our discourse with God and Santa,
from whom we asked many gifts and favors.
Well-meaning church theologians haven't helped much either.
Their definitions and discussions on the matter often leave us cold and confused.
I even heard one well-known theologian in a seminar say: "Prayer is basically man in the totality of being stretched out to possess the transcendent, awesome God in the intimate inwardness of his deepest consciousness."
That sure clarifies things and sets our hearts and minds to the task, doesn't it?
Some you may have read Olive Ann Burn’s book, Cold Sassy Tree.
One of the characters, Grandpa Rucker, is a pretty lively character who can be counted on to dispense wisdom born of experience.
Listen to what Grandpa Rucker says:
"Another thang to think on: some folks ain't said pea-turkey to God in years.
They don't ast Him for nothin',
don't specially try to be good,
and don't love nobody the way Jesus said to 'cept their own self.
But they go'n git jest bout as much or as little in the way a-earthly goods as the rest of us.
They go'n have sorrows and joys,
failure and good times.
And when they come down sick they go'n git well or die, one,
jest same as the prayin' folks.
So don't thet tell you something bout prayin'?
Ain't the best prayin' jest bein' with God and talkin' a while,
like He's a good friend,
stead a-like he runs a store and you've come in a-hopin' to get a bargain?"
(When you pray, say Father – Papa – Daddy – )
Grandpa Rucker got to the heart of the matter our hearts.
Prayer is being in communion with God, not something to be used when needs arise.
Prayer is being in relationship so that God can speak to us,
more than our pestering God with a grocery list of wants.
Prayer is finding peace in the midst of troubles,
calm in the midst of calamity,
and love in the midst of our loneliness.
It is not that we don't know how to pray;
it is that we have lost what it means to be in relationship with a loving, hearing, forgiving and gracious God.
Prayer is the only skill the disciples ever asked Jesus to teach them.
They didn't ask him how to heal,
or to teach,
or to ask for money,
or to run meetings,
or to do miracles,
or to manage crowds,
or to organize a movement
or start a church.
They asked him to teach them how to pray.
And Jesus said. When you pray, say "Our Father."
Our Father.
Not our God, Lord, commander, master.
Our Father.
Prayer was the way he began every important step of his life.
Anne Lamott thinks there are really three essential prayers.
Three things that spur our relationship with our God.
The three prayers that are genuine, most real, and so basic are:
Help,
Thanks,
and Wow.
Friends, you can write this down and take it with you: Prayer is simply being together with God.
Acknowledging that you are always in God's presence.
Prayer is mutual awareness and the quiet exchange, as when two friends sit before a fire.
Prayer involves exchange.
Just knowing that the power of the infinite surrounds us in all we do, we offer an effort to live a good life.
We give to God our human loves and our daily chores.
We give to God our small efforts to create a better world.
We share with God all our concerns,
for that is what friends do, isn't it?
Most of us live busy lives, and when we pray unceasingly, much of our prayer takes place on the run.
Whether we operate machinery,
change diapers and wash dishes,
or grapple with problems at a desk or on a phone, we too can have those moments of heightened awareness and greater exchange with the Mystery that is always right where we are.
We have people, concerns, and appreciations to hold up to God as we bathe and dress,
as we drive from place to place,
as we stand in the line at the bank or grocery store, as we wrestle with our responsibilities,
and as we relax with our friends.
Friends, the prayer of a good person has a powerful affect.
In God we live and have our being, and prayer is as natural as breathing.
We come as we are.
God is already present.
As soon as we tune in, the exchange begins.
It is usually quiet and low-key, but something profound is happening.
Many of you in this room can attest to the veracity of the words of James: The prayer of a good person has a powerful affect.
Prayer has an affect on others,
and prayer changes you.
Pray unceasingly.
Experience for yourself, the healing power of prayer.
And you will be well on your way to living a fuller life – a max-life.
This is prayer the Lord’s way.
This will help you to observe Lent the Lord’s way this year.
You are on the way toward the very best Easter ever!
Amen.
This sermon was shared with the congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, during a worship service, the Fourth Sunday of Lent, March 10, 2013.
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