Series: “Facing the Road Ahead” Part 4 "Look For Hope"

Sermon May 13, 2012         

Matt. 12:9-21

Prayer:

We conclude today our series, “Facing the Road Ahead.” This series is meant to engage the congregation in discerning the future of Cross Lutheran. These are the first steps of a journey of transition for Cross Lutheran and for you as participants in discovering who you are as a faith community. Sometimes these transitions can be difficult and uncertain. Nonetheless, it’s a journey you must take if you are going to rediscover who and what the mission of Cross Lutheran is and how you carry out its mission.

o    Over the past weeks we’ve reflected on Never Giving up despite the challenges.

o    We’ve reflected on Not Fearing the journey. That Jesus is walking with us, and that God will provide.

o    Last week we reflected on the importance of having a Clear Purpose.

Today… our reflection will focus on “Look for Hope.”

Lillian Daniel wrote an E-Mail Devotional I get… She writes in the weeks after the earthquake in Japan, more than 2,000 swept up on the shoreline in Miyagi. Exhausted rescue workers were shocked at the horror of so much loss of life, but on that very same day, Time magazine reported this incident:

"More accustomed to hearing the crunching of rubble and the sloshing of mud than sounds of life, they dismissed the baby's cry as a mistake. Until they heard it again, and again. They made their way to a pile of debris and carefully removed fragments of wood and slate, shattered glass and rock. And then they saw her: a 4-month-old baby girl in a pink woolen bear suit. A tidal wave literally swept the baby from her parents' arms when it hit their home on March 11. 'Her discovery has put a new energy into the search,' a civil defense official told a local news crew. 'We will listen, look and dig with even more diligence after this.'"

Human hope is an amazing thing. In the face of 2,000 dead bodies, it was the discovery of one single baby in a pink bear suit that gave energy to the exhausted, and gave the rescuers hope once again.

Hope is not logical, it makes no sense from a numbers perspective, and it's not something you can prove. But human beings seem to have been built with a divine microchip inside us, the capacity for hope in the face of suffering. Against the odds we build our case not on the devastating deaths of thousands but upon the shrieking cry for life of one baby in a pink bear suit.

We’ve all faced difficulties & uncertainties. All of us are looking for some hope in the midst of destruction. Though your difficulties may not be on the scale of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, but we still look for hope. We’re all looking for something to grab hold of for a little bit of comfort amongst the difficulties of change.

Theologian Peter Gomes says of hope…. “Hope does not deny the circumstances of the present and hope doesn’t help us get out of our difficulties. Hope does help us get through.”

In our bible story today Jesus has two encounters. Jesus encounters a man with a deformed hand and Jesus encounters Pharisees… Religious Leaders. The man with the deformed hand is seeking some solace in the Jewish Meeting… i.e. the church. The man is sitting in the back minding his own business and he’s just looking for some hope and peace. Because of his deformity… he likely is ridiculed, shunned, and shamed. Likely… the religious leaders are appalled that he’s in the church in the first place.  So… the church people see a way to trap Jesus and confront him with a question… “Is it right to heal someone on the Sabbath?” After-all there are rules about not doing anything on the Sabbath. Jesus, sensing what their really up to… responds by saying…

Jesus answered, "If you had a sheep that fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, wouldn't you lift it out? People are worth much more than sheep, and so it is right to do good on the Sabbath."

Jesus says, not only is it right to heal… it’s good to heal on Sunday… and he heals the man right in front of the religious leaders. Jesus seems to imply…. What better time to heal someone than on Sunday!! Can you imagine!!! Of course we in the church would never object to something as disruptive as this… would we! All this guy was looking for was a little bit of Hope. All he was looking for was someone to love him despite his deformity.

Reminds me of little Eric… who at the time was 4 years old and wanted to receive communion with his family. So we set up a time to have a 1^st communion class. Eric was one of 14 kids who went through the class. Half the kids received their 1^st communion on one week and the others on the following week. Eric was to receive his on the 2^nd week. Eric was over joy’d with the prospect of being able to receive communion.  After the first week it became known that there was a rule about who could receive communion. It seems a person had to be in 8^th grade as it was stated in the churches constitution. We postponed the 2^nd class… that following week after the 1^st group… Eric came up for communion with his family, instead of an ear to ear grin; he came up with his parents with eyes of sorrow and tears in his eyes. His parents knew of the decision to wait, but as we looked at each other Eric put out his cupped hands saying with sad eyes, “I want Jesus to love me too.” Eric received his 1^st communion.

In that moment Eric experienced hope. In the moment of Jesus healing the man hope was given. When we bow to church rules we lose sight of the spirit of hope. When we lose sight of what it means to share love… we’ve held back hope.

God’s promise of hope is found in Jesus… as Jesus says when he quotes Isa… “He is my chosen servant! I love him… All people will place their hope in him.” When we love… we bring hope to some one’s life.

Where do you look for hope? We’re told to look around… there is hope all around us… just open your eyes. The thing is… we’re often too busy to pay attention. This past week while preparing for this message I had a brain freeze… I didn’t say it quite like that, nonetheless, I was stuck. So what I like to do is get up and walk around and talk to people. So… I asked Deb where she looks for hope. She responded by saying, “I find hope in the sunrise of a new day.” Isn’t this great?

I remember a time when I was so disappointed and frustrated because things just didn’t seem to be going all that well. I was angry at the events going on in my life. I was angry with myself… angry with the church… angry with the congregation I was serving. I was emotionally & physically drained and in many ways felt hopeless. I don’t share this as a way to get pity, but as a way to share that pastors are human too… we are like most everyone else who struggle to find hope. At the time I was part of a small group and a person in the group who had no idea what I was going thru gave me a newspaper article titled “Feel Incapable? Looking for Hope.”

Roger Campbell says, “Einstein couldn’t speak until he was four years old and didn’t read until he was 7.

-       Beethoven’s music teacher said of him: “As a composer he’s hopeless.”

-       Thomas Edison’s teacher said he was unable to learn

-       Walt Disney was once fired by a newspaper editor because he was thought to be without ideas.

-       Caruso was told by one music teacher: “You can’t sing. You have no voice at all.”

-       An editor said Louisa Mae Alcott, who wrote “Little Women,” would never be able to write anything that would have popular appeal.

-       Dwight L. Moody, now considered one of the most effective evangelists of all time, had but a fifth grade education and once wept before an audience, saying “God forgive a man who cannot properly speak the English language.”

The disciples of Jesus were without impressive credentials, being called ignorant and unlearned, but their contemporaries found it impossible to ignore them because their lives demonstrated they had found something others needed. Their dedication, courage and faith made them world changers (Acts 17:6).

God seems to enjoy using weak but willing people to do great things to the amazement of those who are thought to be better qualified. The following title of a book I noticed in a pastor’s library once caught my eye and lingers in my memory: “Why God Uses Nobodies.” Though I’ve never read the book, its challenging title keeps encouraging me to attempt things I might have thought too difficult for me to do.”

In our 1John reading he says, “If we truly love others and live as Christ did in this world, we won’t be worried about the day of judgment. A real love for others will take our worries away.”

Our Isaiah text tells us… “Forget what happened long ago! Don't think about the past. I am creating something new. There it is! Do you see it?.... The future is before you…. Do you see it?

And that… my friends… is where we look for hope.

See You Out On the Road

Series: “Facing the Road Ahead” Part 3 "Finding Purpose"

Sunday May 6, 2012 Sermon Matt 28:16-20

There is a Charlie Brown Comic Strip…. where Lucy asks, "Why do you think we're put on earth, Charlie Brown?" Charlie replies, "To make others happy." Lucy says, "I don't think I'm making anyone very happy .... Of course, nobody's making me very happy either." Then Lucy screams at the top of her lungs ... "SOMEBODY'S NOT DOING HIS JOB!"

We’re in the 3^rd week of our 4 week series titled; “Facing the Road Ahead” of which we are reflecting biblically on Cross Lutheran’s transition process. We’re doing this to help the congregation be engaged in understanding who and what Cross Lutheran is and how she carries out her ministry… not only for today but also into the future. While the road ahead might be uncertain, it is a road that we must take if we are to engage our past so that it can inform our future. We are also doing this to learn something about ourselves and about what God has called us to be.

o    Over the past couple of weeks we’ve learned to never give up.

o    If we stay connected to Jesus, if we follow Jesus, then there is no reason to give up.

o    Last week we learned not to fear because the Holy Spirit empowers us to focus on the abundance of God.

Today… our reflection will focus on Finding Purpose at Cross Lutheran.

The way to over-come the road of uncertainty is to discover or perhaps to re-discover your purpose. That is…Why is it that you are here? What are you called to be here at Cross Lutheran? Who are you called to be? Of course this is for most of us the million dollar question.

The dictionary definition is… “The reason for which something exists or for which it has been done or made.”  For me as an individual… “I exist to be truthful, authentic, and a responsible citizen.”  I accomplish this thru the goals and passions I’ve been gifted with. The same is true for the church and Cross Lutheran. Do you know what Cross Lutherans purpose is... you have one! It may be written down or it may be assumed, but nonetheless you do have one.

Please keep in mind… this is not about the hopes and dreams you have… these are not a purpose. Hopes and dreams are the excitement of our purpose. Hopes and dreams bring enthusiasm to the purpose. Purpose is the over-arching reason we exist as a community of faith. Hopes and dreams change… purpose does not.

Do you know that you do have a Purpose? It’s in your constitution!

Statement of Purpose: “the Church is a people created by God, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and called and sent to witness God’s creative, redeeming, and sanctifying activity in the world.”

It’s too long… but there it is… It even goes on to spell out how you will carry out this purpose. Is this your purpose? I want to caution you… think about this before you answer because virtually every ELCA congregation has this same purpose statement because it’s the model constitution of the “church”. Often purpose statements like the one I read tend to be elongated with a lot of churchy words that carry little meaning for us. But before we say yes to this… I believe Jesus gives us a pretty clear understanding of what the churches purpose is and it’s really quite simple.

Essentially, I believe Jesus tells us our purpose is to “Go to all nations, Make Disciples, Baptize, and Teach.” We know this passage well, yet we tremble when we hear it or we conveniently forget it. Essentially… in shorter form it says what your constitution says. But even more simply… there are really only two imperatives our church purpose needs… they are GO!!!   And    MAKE!!!  Let’s look at these.

GO!

Some of you just got nervous. What does this mean? The Greek word used here literally means “To Pursue”. Jesus by His authority tells us to Pursue ALL people. Jesus taught to actively demonstrate Love, Mercy, and Grace. These are action words…  Jesus didn’t say Go to a place, or to only Christians, or to people like us. Jesus said to go to ALL people. So… the first part of the churches purpose is to GO!!!

MAKE!

Some of you just got really nervous… What does Jesus say??? “To Make Disciples.” … to Baptize them, and teach them to do everything I told you”.

I was sharing this with a congregation and a person came up to me and said, “I can’t do this.” I asked why? And they told me, “That word disciple scares me to death because it means that I must go knock on doors.” I asked who told them that… they told me former pastors over the years told them that knocking on doors evangelizing made them disciples. Is that something you’ve heard or been taught?

Let me be clear… I believe it’s pretty simple… discipleship or as I like to refer to it “Followership” is about these 6 elements or practices Prayer, Worship, Learning, Serving, Relationships, Generosity. Simply… these practices are how the purpose gets lived out… “GO… MAKE” Simply I believe our purpose… the churches purpose… that is never changing are these simple two words… GO>>>> MAKE….

This is God’s church purpose for all churches… all faith communities.

The BIG question for us is…. Is this God’s church or a social gathering of like-minded people?

“A story is told of a community of people who lived on a stretch of dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occurred. Eventually, some of the townspeople decided to put some time and effort and money into a rescue operation. A small life-saving station was built and the devoted members of the rescue team kept an ongoing watch over the sea, ready to use their little boat to search for survivors in case of a shipwreck. As the result of this volunteer operation, the town became famous because of the many lives that were saved.

More and more people joined and became part of the team. Soon a new building was erected. It was much larger than the first little building and it was beautifully furnished and decorated. And as more and more amenities were added for the members' pleasure and comfort, the new building was slowly transformed into a kind of clubhouse. As a result, some of the members began to lose interest in the rescue operation.

But then a shipwreck occurred and many survivors were rescued and brought into the clubhouse for first aid. During the period of the operation which lasted for several days, the frenzied activity caused the attractive "clubhouse" to be considerably marred by such things as bloodstains on the lush carpeting. At the next meeting there was a split in the membership. Most members felt that the life-saving operation was a hindrance to the social life of the organization. Those who disagreed were told that they could build another little station further down the coast. And, as the years went by, history continued to repeat itself. Today, so the story goes, that seacoast has a number of exclusive clubhouses dotting the shore - but no one in the area seems to be concerned with rescue operations.

What is your Purpose?

See You Out on the Road

Series: "Facing the Road Ahead"... Part 2 "NO FEAR"

Sunday Apr. 29, 2012 Sermon  
Luke 12:22-34

We continue today in our series “Facing the Road Ahead”… and facing that road can sometimes be difficult and uncertain.

Sometimes those difficulties can lead us to Give Up, and as we talked last week of the reasons why we should “Never Give Up.” Despite the difficulties we must preserver towards the blessings God has for us.

Today… our reflection and focus will be on “FEAR”… more precisely, having “NO FEAR.”

PRAYER:

Many people worry about a lot of things in their lives.
       We are often worry warts as we worry about our kids.
       We worry about our jobs and whether we will have one or not.
       We worry about our finances… our health… our relationships.
       We even worry about our church and we even worry about how God will interact         
       among us.
       Maybe we even worry about our faith.

We often even ask ourselves why we worry about all of this in the first place because when all is said and done… our worry is usually for naught.
        Jesus tells us in Vs 25… “Can worry make you live longer?”
        We know the answer to this question don't we…. NO!!

Yet we still have fears and anxiety… about the unknown.

In our Acts story Peter & John are standing before the church leaders because they were proclaiming Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. These church leaders were angry… Yes… the church had a big problem with what they were doing. I’m sure Peter & John were more than a bit afraid and fearful about what might happen. After-all… these were the same people who had a hand in killing Jesus.

Yet… Peter stands and senses a newly found courage… the bible says “Filled with the Holy Spirit,” Peter then shares Jesus and challenges the religious leaders by saying, “After you killed Jesus he was raised from death.”

Like-wise… Jesus says, “My little disciples don’t be afraid! Your father in heaven wants to give you the kingdom.” What Jesus really is saying, why do you worry? There is a sense of… “Do you believe”… again, remembering our talk about the word “Believe” a few weeks back. Perhaps… Jesus is saying, do you “Trust Me.”

You’re familiar with Psalm 23… “Though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will not FEAR.” What do you fear today?
       Do you fear dying? Or just as easily, do you fear living?
       Do you fear not having enough money, food, gas, and housing?
       Do you fear a health test like a mammogram or CT scan?
       Maybe you fear being ridiculed, humiliation, or maybe being a failure?
       Maybe your fearing what might happen here at Cross… about what kind of pastor you
       might call.
       Or maybe what might come of the transition process.
Heck… you might even fear spiders, snakes, or other critters.

Peter Marty writes, “I’ve met people who strangely fear they might compromise some core Christian principle by getting to know another person who has a different faith understanding than they. Their gut tells them to love, but their boundary-oriented faith warns them to keep a distance.”

How many of you feel this way?
       We say we need to love others… but often times keep our distance.
       We say we need to change what the church should be about.
       We say we need to do things differently to connect with other groups of people.
The truth of the matter is… fear of the unknown… the fear of how to do these things often drives our fears and anxieties, and we usually end up responding by doing nothing.

The truth is… that FEAR is the by-product of human freedom. It looks like this…
       Those who have little…fear having enough.
       Those who have some… fear there will be enough to get ahead.
       Those who have more… fear they will lose what they have.

Because of our freedom, not only in this country, but our freedom in Christ, we become afraid and fearful we will lose what we have thus finding ways to protect and hold onto those things we have.

Helmut Thielicke says, "Jesus did not say… Look at the ostrich, how it buries its head in the desert sand and so tries to escape the fear of danger. No, he said: Look at the birds of the air, keep your eyes open, stand up straight and look to the heights where God makes known his grace and care."

Peter… filled with the Holy Spirit fearlessly stands and proclaims Jesus.

Jesus says look at the birds, the flowers, and all of creation… doesn’t God take care of them?

Jesus says… don’t be afraid… God wants to give you the kingdom…where is your heart?

Somehow we have allowed the fear of scarcity to infiltrate and compromise the abundance that we have in God. And why? There is no reason to fear… in fact we should have the attitude of “NO FEAR”!! To not worry… to have faith… to believe… better yet to trust. Today is the opportunity in the midst of uncertainty to grow in your discipleship and an opportunity to grow in your faith.

I'd like to close with story of an 85 year old Kentucky woman… named Nadine Stair on what she would do “If I Had My Life to Live Over.”

I'd like to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I've been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones. You see, I'm one of those people who lives sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.
--As quoted in Allan E. Mallinger and Jeannette DeWyze,
Too Perfect (New York: Fawcett, 1992), 10.

Please say with me… Lord, I won’t be afraid… you are with me!

See You Out on the Road.

“Facing the Road Ahead” Part 1 "Never Give Up"

Sunday April 22, 2012 Sermon Rom. 8:28-35,37-39, John 10:27-30

Prayer:

We begin the Transition Process in earnest today with a sermon series titled, “Facing the Road Ahead.”  

I’ve heard some of you ask why it is necessary to do this. First, it’s important you let some time pass between pastorates, given that Pastor Barry was here for 25 years. There needs to be time to grieve and to process what it means to not have your long term pastor present. You need time to understand things will be different from now on.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, this time is an opportunity to look within and come to some understanding of who you are as Cross Lutheran. To ask questions about what it is Cross Lutheran wants to be into the future. What will be her mission and how she will go about her work.

Thirdly, this is an opportunity to discover, and to find meaning and purpose of who and what Cross Luther will be into the future. This series and those that will follow are meant to help engage the whole congregation in the transition process. It meant for the congregation to think and reflect in an intentional way about the direction of ministry for the future. It’s meant to help stimulate conversation, evaluate and assess, clarify ministry, and to challenge you to discover the mission and ministry of Cross Lutheran.

So… we start today by “Facing the Road Ahead.”

And the road ahead seems daunting and uncertain. We are living in difficult and uncertain times for sure. While some families are doing ok, many families continue to struggle financially, there continues to be high unemployment and under employment, and when we look at our communities we see civil strife, beatings and murders, robberies, and abuse in most if not all sectors of our society. The media and TV talking heads seem more times than not to fan the flames of uncertainty and fear. And as you may think some of this fear and anxiety even finds its way into the church as well.

For example:

-       Pr retires and now what will we do with no Pastor?

-       Why do we have to wait so long?

-       Why do we have to do this process & reflection?

-       It seems the road is so long and difficult.

-       These questions are based on fear and uncertainty and based on our own methods    to survive.

-       And the transition process is based on hope and faith that God provides.

Pr. Peter Marty of St Paul Luth. Davenport Iowa, wrote in the Lutheran Magazine, “Fear keeps telling us there is not enough to go around. Not enough time, not enough resources, not enough strength, not enough grace, not enough patients, not enough God.” Marty continues, “Trusting Faith believes in God’s sufficiency no matter what… trusting faith simply lends us the courage to walk through those fears.”

Jesus tells us multiple times to NOT be afraid…. DO NOT FEAR.

-       Jesus says in our story today, “My sheep know my voice. And I know them… they will never be lost.”

-       Paul says, “If God is on our side, can anyone be against us.”

-       Paul continues, “Nothing can separate us from God’s love.”

What this tells us is if Jesus is central to our faith the difficulties and uncertainties will be minimal and we will be able to preserver… And we will NEVER GIVE UP… We’ll Never Give Up despite the storm clouds… despite the seeming endless road… despite the situations and circumstances of our lives… NEVER GIVE UP!!!

I’d like to reflect on 3 reasons to Never Give Up…

 “Remain Connected to Jesus”

The first reason to Never Give Up is to remain connected to Jesus. Peter says in his sermon in Acts 3… “God sent his chosen Son to you because God wanted to bless you.” Prior to Pentecost, Peter was an emotional wreck… in fact all the disciples weren’t all that confident that God was blessing them. They were holed up in a room scared to death. They had trouble believing what was happening to them. They were challenged in their faith and wondered what it all meant. At Pentecost that all changed and Peter finds a new confidence in Jesus, he chastises the religious people in the temple and basically says, “All God desires is that people turn back to Him.” Do you want to reduce your propensity to give up…Stay connected to Jesus? Friends… we… all of us… need to consistently discover ways to stay connected to Jesus and it will lessen our reasons to Give Up.

“Follow Jesus”

The second reason to Never Give Up is to become an intentional follower of Jesus.

Jesus says in John 10:27… “My sheep know my voice, and I know them… and they follow me.”

Are you following Jesus? This question revolves around the issue of Discipleship or as I like to refer as… learning to follow Jesus. We will reflect on this more specifically at another time. But, essentially following Jesus has 6 principles or practices that we need to do consistently… they are…

o    Community Prayer… Worship… Learning… Serving

o    Relationship Building… and Generosity

When we are intentionally and consistently living these practices or principles we are following Jesus… we are staying connected to Jesus. And when we are doing this we will Never Give Up!

 “God Loves You No Matter What”

The third reason to never give up is that God loves you no matter what.

Paul says in Romans 8:33-35… “If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God's right side, speaking to him for us. Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death?

Paul continues by saying, “Nothing can separate you from the love of God.”

Prior to coming to Cross I had been without a call for 7 months. One gets a little nervous when you begin to run out of living resources… i.e. money. It is easy to give when you don’t see God doing all that much on your behalf. There are glimpses of God’s work… there were times when money showed up that helped out at just the right time. It really gets down to holding on to trusting God’s provision and perseverance… as Paul states, even through the difficulties God is present. Because as Paul sees it… “If God is with us, can anyone be against us.”

So… giving up is not an option… I am not going to let you give up. I am going to keep you focused on what God is doing and what God will do and it is not to give up. You will not give up because you will remain connected to Jesus… because you will intentionally follow Jesus… and because you will know that God loves us no matter what.

In Closing:

This is kind of a humorous story, but this story lends itself to what we’ve been talking about.

Chuck Evans was a parishioner in a former congregation. What’s unique about Chuck is that he has an eye disorder that is making him blind. He is currently 80% blind today. The humorous part is that Chuck works for the IRS… that’s right… the Internal Revenue Service. At some point he knows he will no longer be able to work there, but until that time the IRS makes accommodations for him. Chuck was when he could see was an accountant, and when he was part of the congregation I was serving he was about 70% blind and I asked him to be our treasurer. He laughed and said, “You know that I’m legally blind” and you want me to serve as a treasure? I said, “Yes I know and yes I want you to do this.” I told him, “Lets both pray on it.” He agreed. Chuck was ready to give up in his life. He saw no way to be a productive person. After praying about it for a few days, he came to me with tears streaming down his face accepting the invitation and saying, “You are the first pastor who never saw my blindness as a limitation.”

Honestly, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and I just knew he could do the job and frankly, I don’t like seeing anyone give up…

I pray you too will Never Give Up!! The Road Ahead Continues…

See You Out on the Road.

"Room for Doubt"

Sunday April 15, 2012 Sermon                                                                                      

John 20:19-31

Frederick Buechner, in his book “Wishful Thinking” said,

Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don't have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.

Perhaps that’s why I always moving and jumping around….

Would you believe if I told you that I could put these two paperclips together without touching them? Using a dollar bill and placing the paperclips in the dollar bill and pulling on the ends of the bill until the dollar bill was fully extended… and wala… the paperclips are completely together without touching them. Now do you believe it?

Prayer:

I have to say… in all honesty… I really struggled this week in how I was going share our gospel story. We hear this story most every year and it seems that when I’ve preached or have heard sermons about doubting Thomas, I have or others have looked at this story and focused on the “Not having Faith” part of what Jesus tells Thomas. That somehow doubting Thomas is really not a very faithful person. I struggle because in many ways I’m just like Thomas… I need proof. This is however, a common understanding of this story. Nevertheless, as I looked at this story and reflected… I’m not so sure… I have some doubts… sometimes too many doubts about this common understanding.

I have a confession to make… there are times in my journey of faith that I doubt many aspects of my faith. Gasp… the truth be told and if we are honest with ourselves… many of you have doubts as well. And I want to tell you it’s ok… there you have it… the pastor who has doubts and said it’s ok to doubt!

This story is but one of those where my doubts occur. You can read throughout the Bible and see where the people of God doubted God and God’s goodness, and sought for God to prove it to them. Even in the New Testament, I mean… if we just looked at the gospels… I’m struck by the fact that not one of Jesus’ closest friends, those who knew him best, those who heard first-hand his predictions and promises even greeted Him with words like… “I knew it was true”… “Jesus, we were expecting you”… “Welcome back Jesus.” Not one of them said anything like this… not one of them believed Jesus was coming back. Not one of them could believe what they saw when Jesus showed himself. They’re in a locked room fearing for their lives!

I’ll bet… in large part the Christian community, perhaps even some of you doubt parts of your faith… like Thomas… like me. For many of us… doubt has been taught as the opposite of faith, something to fear, something to be ashamed of, and not very Christian. After-all, if you doubted you couldn’t be Christian… or at the very least a nominal Christian.

Today I want to focus on 1 word found in 2 verses of our story.

That word is “Believe”…

The Greek word for “Believe” is “pistos” meaning… “faithful”…. “trustworthy”… “reliable.” Often translated as… “one being faithful.”

You may say… well ok… but the understanding of the word “believe” in Jesus’ day was much different than is our understanding of the word “believe.” Our modern understanding of believe is one of proof. If you told me you bought a new car and I said I didn’t believe you, and you drove it to my house to show me, I now believe you because you proved it by showing me. You believed that 2 paper clips can come together without touching them because you saw me do it. Our modern understanding of belief is founded in a structure and system of proving something has happened…. I see… so I believe.

Belief in Jesus’ day was understood as one of trust or a disposition of the heart. A person could simply not believe distinct from trust, loyalty, and love. It was a cultural norm and understanding of trust. So when Jesus says to Thomas, “Have you believed,” he’s really asking, “Have you trusted.” Please take notice of theis word... it will come back.The question for Thomas was not, “Do you believe in the resurrection?” But, more profoundly, “Do you trust in the resurrection?”

What are we to make of this? I’d like to share some thoughts…

There will always be doubt.

Doubt has always been a part of humanity. From the very beginning doubt was born in the garden when Adam & Eve doubted God’s goodness… and they sought proof and the evil one proved it for them. The first couple doubted God knew what was best for them. From this time on, humanity has sought to know what is best and to prove it. There couldn’t be aspects of life that could be taken from just faith. Humanity had to have proof.

Doubt isn’t a bad thing… it’s the place where we feel unsure… the place of discernment. Doubt allows us space to look at the possibilities and where faith can be nurtured. Doubt can help us think through the challenges… after-all God did give us a mind… and to come up with meaningful understandings. Doubt becomes an issue when we fore-sake faith for reality.

Faith is where Doubt & Reality intersect.

Jesus told Thomas to touch his wounds. Touch my hands… touch my side… and Thomas felt reality… Jesus’ body. Jesus did a number of miraculous signs… not to show off, but demonstrate how reality and doubt can intersect with faith. That God could use real and substantial methods to use doubt and reality to intersect faith.

Back to the paperclips… I would have never believed 2 paperclips could come together without touching them… till I saw. Jesus knew what he was asking his friends to believe would at times be hard to grasp… that’s why Faith needed Doubt & Reality to flourish. And when that happens… you get confession… “My Lord, and My God.”

Doubt and Faith = Grace

Thomas, despite doubting and needing to see before believing, and despite Jesus honoring Thomas’ request… Jesus offered grace. Grace is not in Jesus’ question of Thomas’ belief… Jesus is not shaming Thomas… Jesus is asking for Thomas’ trust…

Thomas says, “My Lord, and My God.

For Jesus it is a “Trust” issue. Thomas, do you trust me? In John chapter 21… Jesus asks Peter the same thing. Not in a condemning or shameful way, but in a grace-filled way. Thus… Doubt and Faith brought Grace to Thomas… it can do the same for us as well.

Is there room in our faith journey for doubt? If this is true, perhaps that's where we discover grace.

Peter Rollins, an Irish Theologian, was asked,

Do you deny the resurrection?

He responds, “Without equivocation or hesitation I fully and completely admit that I deny the resurrection of Christ. This is something that anyone who knows me could tell you, and I am not afraid to say it publicly, no matter what some people may think…

I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ears to the cries of the downtrodden and lend my support to an unjust and corrupt system.

However there are moments when I affirm that resurrection, few and far between as they are. I affirm it when I stand up for those who are forced to live on their knees, when I speak for those who have had their tongues torn out, when I cry for those who have no more tears left to shed.”

Is this where we affirm our doubt? Is there doubt when we don’t lend a hand to those suffering? Do we not doubt when we do stand for the hurting and oppressed? When we speak for those who can’t… is this where doubt lies?

In Mark 9… is astory of a child with an evil spirit and his father wanting Jesus to heal him… Jesus asks the man if he believes and in Vs 24… Immediately the father of the child cried out, "I believe; but help my unbelief!" at that point Jesus brings healing… and according to Peter Rollins… the resurrection has come.

So… I leave you with the question; in our journey of faith, does faith have room for doubt?   YES and YES

See You Out on the Road.

The Great Emergence

Easter Sunday Sermon April 8, 2012                                                                                      

Mark 16:1-8

PRAYER:

Christ is Risen…. He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia

John was coming out of church, the pastor was standing by the door  shaking hands. He grabbed John by the hand and pulled him aside.

The pastor said, “You need to join the Army of the Lord!... John!!”

John quickly replied, “I’m already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor.”

Pastor says, “How come I don’t see you except at Christmas and Easter?”

He whispered back, “I’m in the secret service.”

Here we are again… another Easter Sunday where families gather to go to church and have family celebrations. For some it’s just another holiday and for some in our post-modern world, they wonder why all the fuss. From a human perspective, perhaps for some here today, Jesus died and he’s still dead!

Perhaps the best we can do is to remember Jesus as a great guy, or an insightful teacher, or a prophet, or a compassionate person. And maybe at best, all we may be able to do is respect him for how he lived his life.

So… here we are this Easter Sunday gathered to worship and perhaps our imagination will allow us to share his memory with praise as a legacy much like the women who went to the tomb to honor Jesus’ body.

This must have been one heck of a weekend for the friends of Jesus. Think about it…Jesus’ friends have just experienced a great trauma. Their friend had just died a humiliating death. Now they’re all wondering what will happen next. They’re wondering who will lead them… Who will teach them? Who will save them?...  What will emerge from all of this? They are sheep without a shepherd, and it seems they have forgotten all that Jesus told them. They’re all hunkered down hidden away affraid of what the religious leaders or the Romans might do. And, the women, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James go to the tomb. They wondered, "who was going to move the stone!" Why didn’t the “guys” go? Someone in the audience says, “They were chicken” (laugh). The women go and… crisis erupts because Jesus is not there. The stone is moved and Jesus is gone.

A man says, “Don’t Be Alarmed!” This Jesus… God has raised him to Life.

The story basically ends there. We don’t know why Mark ends the story where he does. So we too… are left to wonder what will emerge next. We’re wondering because we too seem to be living in crisis. There’s a job crisis… A housing crisis… Gas Crisis… We’re wondering when it will end and who will lead us out of it. Who will save us?  Who or What will emerge in the future?

And we hear the voice… Don’t Be Alarmed!!

Some suggest there’s a Great Emergence of Spirituality happening all around our country and the world for that matter. While many people acknowledge a belief in God… many churches are experiencing the opposite… fewer people in church. After-all, the church is where you find God… Right!

People are now acknowledging they are “Spiritual but not Religious” But what does that mean? There are different understandings about what this means, but we seem to be living in a time of tension about what spirituality is or isn’t in the church. Yet… there is something is different going on… something spiritual is happening. Something is Emerging.

The Great Emergence of Jesus we experience today on Easter Sunday was not about changing the course of history from a cultural and materialistic standpoint, but about changing the course of history of the heart. God’s desire for humanity is to have a changed heart, and to turn back to God.

The resurrection of Jesus is God’s way of saying, “I am with You. I am your God and you are my people.”

The Great Emergence of Jesus was meant to transform our lives from the material to the spiritual. “Faith”… or dare I say “Trust” is the divine transformation God seeks from us. Trust in God sets us on a course to the divine transformation of the heart. Jesus believed if our spirit was transformed our lives would be transformed and lived out differently.  In this manner we could experience fuller relationships, fuller compassion, fuller justice, fuller community, and fuller lives.

The Great Emergence of Jesus is much more than just a day where we say,

“HE IS RISEN… HE IS RISEN INDEED”

The Great Emergence of Jesus is a time when we see differently. That Jesus can be alive in each of us on any day, at any time, and in any place. Maybe the Great Emergence is a time we focus less on self and more on others. Perhaps, The Great Emergence opens us to being more generous, more patients, more forgiving, and a word I like… more grace-filled. Maybe what emerges becomes more purposeful and meaningful? Maybe The Great Emergence of Jesus isn’t really about you and me, but about a loving God doing an incredible and miraculous thing… way beyond our comprehension giving us an opportunity to emerge into a new and different life.

Perhaps, that’s why Mark’s gospel ends as it does. Maybe it’s an opportunity for us to write the “Rest of the Story” of how The Great Emergence of Jesus changed our lives. Maybe it’s our opportunity to finish the story so that we can proclaim….

HE IS RISEN… HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!

See You Out on the Road

“Admiring Jesus”

Sermon for Palm Sunday April 1, 2012

Mark 11:1-11

Prayer:

Who do you admire?...... Who do you admire?

What are characteristics you admire most in that person?

We admire lots of people… primarily because we often don’t see the admiring characteristics in ourselves that we see in others. Truth be told… we too have those characteristics as well.

I remember a few years ago watching a political debate when the question posed to the candidates was, “Who do you admire the most?”… when they got to George W. Bush he said, “Jesus Christ”. It was startling and shocking statement. No one expected an answer like that… the expectation would have been someone like Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Regean, MLK Jr., or Mom or Dad… but not Jesus.

What would have been your response? Would you have said Jesus?

Who do you admire?

Our story today is read every year.

Each of our four gospels record Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem at Passover.

Each record Jesus riding a donkey.

Each has people waving palms and laying coats on the ground.

Each have hundreds of people cheering and admiring Jesus.

“Hosanna… Hosanna… blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.”

This must have been quite an event…. Hundreds… maybe even thousands of people cheering Jesus. The closest we can come to celebrating like this would be something like our favorite team winning the World Series, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, or maybe the inauguration of a new president. For the most part we admire these people for what they have accomplished.

Who Do You Admire?

I don’t want to jump ahead too much, but the cheering crowd today for our hero… isn’t cheering all that loud in a few days.

I wonder if this would have been different had Jesus rode in on a tall white horse rather than a donkey? Would have the crowds been more admiring? More cheering?

It seems to me that Jesus challenged the religious systems with a new way and it seems the crowds admired Jesus a lot for this. Jesus was about pointing people to a new way to be in the world, yet it wasn’t enough. People wanted to follow a king who would deliver them from the struggles of the day. The people in Jesus’ day wanted a king who would overthrow the Romans and bring the land God promised back to them… back to the days of King David… the good ole days…and they thought Jesus was that kind of Messiah.

In many ways we too are looking for the same kind of messiah. A Messiah to fix our country, our city, our community… and perhaps even our church. A Messiah that brings peace and justice and hope to the hurting world. After-all… when you look around and see all the death, injustice, declining attendance… lack of commitment etc. who wouldn’t want that kind of messiah?

In the next few days… Jesus still does some more teaching. The end isn’t quite here yet. Although… many churches will read the story we read and continue right through to his death… there’s really a lot of stuff in between that we should pay attention to. Read the next three chapters in Mark… there are radical teachings here that we should pay attention to. Teachings that point to a new way. A new way that brings us closer to God.

Maundy Thursday and Good Friday is coming and I invite you to come and experience these events at Cross. These experiences will bring you closer to why Jesus did what he did for us. An experience of God’s grace for us.

Will we be like the crowds today cheering and just admiring Jesus… then cheer a different tune in a few days?

Who do you admire?

See You on the Road