An Impulsive Gamble

Matthew 4:12-23

God,

illumine our minds by the power of your Holy Spirit, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word proclaimed our eyes may see your kingdom, our ears may hear the call of Jesus, and our hearts may know the joy of your salvation. Amen.

Are you a risk-taker? Are you willing to put everything on the line for something you believe in? I have heard it said a life without any risk is a life not worth living. Former NHL hockey star Wayne Gretzky is famous for saying, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.”

Joe Garagiola, former major league baseball star and TV personality, tells about a time when Stan Musial came to the plate in a critical game. As a super hitter, Musial was at the peak of his career. The opposing pitcher in the game was young and nervous. Garagiola, as the catcher, called for a fastball and the pitcher shook his head; Joe signaled for a curve and again the pitcher shook him off. He then asked for one of the pitcher's specialties and still the pitcher hesitated. So Joe called time and went out to the mound for a conference. He said, "I've called for every pitch in the book; what do you want to throw?"

"Nothing," was the pitcher's shaky reply. "I just want to hold on to the ball as long as I can."

How many of us know how that pitcher felt?

In recent years, the statistics show how Christians and their clergy have been steadily losing credibility in the culture. Despite the mission and service we do, it is not widely perceived as important or effective. The fastest growing religious group in the country right now is not the Mormons or the Muslims or the Methodists, but the “nones” as they are called. The “nones” are those who claim no religious affiliation whatsoever. When asked why they don’t affiliate with any religion, they confess they are “spiritual, but not religious”. They have no need for religious institutions and the Christian church in particular. Though they themselves do not adhere to a religious faith, they do respect those who take the risk of practicing what they preach. They respect those Christians who fully embrace what they believe, who follow biblical teaching and live it out every day. They may not believe the words of the Bible themselves, but they admire people who are authentic and who act on their beliefs. This requires taking risks and dare greatly.

Jesus certainly acted on his beliefs when he called his first disciples along the banks of the Sea of Galilee. He sees two fishermen, the brothers Simon Peter and Andrew, casting their net into the sea. Jesus says to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they leave their nets and follow him (vv. 18-20).

Jesus is bold enough to walk up to two complete strangers and challenge them to follow him in a life of discipleship. Moving on down the road, Jesus sees two other brothers, James and John, who are in a boat with their father, mending their nets. He calls to them in the same way, and they leave both their boat and their father, and follow Jesus (vv. 21-22). He cannot control their response, but he believes in what he is doing and is willing to act on his beliefs. They sense that he is so authentic and committed to his mission that they drop their nets and follow him. They discover something that’s worth living and dying for. Jesus calls to himself an alternative community that reflects the coming reign of God, what Matthew regularly called the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus insists that the kingdom of heaven is not a passive place, but is God’s active, powerful, table-turning, world-changing reign.

The disciples’ decision is impulsive. These four disciples abandon the normal forms of human security: their family, their career, their livelihood, in recognition of Jesus’ authority. They risk everything, but it was a risk worth taking. Are you willing to risk it all for the sake of the call?

Our world thrives on impulsive decision-making. I have been told that you should never go food shopping on an empty stomach. Every store across the nation, especially food stores, displays non-essential items directly in the path of weary shoppers. Why? Because the store owners know that shoppers will buy things on impulse. We have all impulsively thrown something in our cart or basket we didn’t plan on getting when we walked in. Stores in the mall always place a large table or display right in front of the entrance to the store, so you must confront what has been thrust in front of you. It also forces you to enter the store more slowly and deliberately, guiding you to the other areas of the store to entice us to buy more than we planned on buying before we walked in the door. Impulsive shopping can get us in trouble if we are not careful. But are all impulsive decisions harmful to our well-being? Simon-Peter, Andrew, James and John make a decision that was immediate and rash. As the reader, you have to wonder did they know Jesus already? Had they met him before? Did they pray about it first so they could make a prayerful decision? Their decision is difficult for us to understand today. We live in a world where making and confirming appointments is a regular part of our lives. We live in a world of day planners, play dates, seat belts, and child safety seats until you’re 4’ 9” tall. We are a part of a “Is that your final answer?” culture.

I think it is safe to say that these four disciples had always been fishermen. Their fathers had always been fishermen. Their fathers were fishermen and their fathers were fishermen before them. They expected that their children would be fishermen, too, and their children’s children and so on.

But Jesus comes and blows that all out of the water transforming all this predictability into a call to ministry and service.

If the disciples had stayed in their boat, taking the safe, secure course of action, history would have forgotten them. Yet 2000 year later we are still talking about them and perhaps trying to emulate them. We can’t be afraid to risk it all. We must be willing to dare greatly.

What if Martin Luther had decided to be more cautious and not nailed his Ninety-Five Thesis to the Wittenberg church door? What if John Wesley had not, on a whim, decided to attend a church meeting on Aldersgate Street in London in 1738? What if Dietrich Bonhoeffer had not decided to stand up to the Nazis? What if I had decided not contact D’Anna after meeting her at our friends’ wedding almost ten years ago? What if I had decided to not the wedding in the first place?

As stewards and disciples of Christ, when we contemplate whether to be bold and impulsive or play it safe, whether to be willing to be in the arena or standing on the sidelines for what we believe, we are to simply remember Christ’s promise to his disciples. “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and receive eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29).

To be his loyal and faithful disciples – we are to be people who follow Jesus faithfully and invite others to do the same. We can each be clearer about the Christian mission and message. We can make efforts to connect Christ more closely to real life. We can offer more thoughtful answers to life's difficult questions. And we can take the Bible seriously and invite others to follow Jesus.

The light of Christ has come into our lives, and we should never hide it from others. Jesus has called each of us to follow him, and to "fish for people” (Matthew 4:19). We are being complacent, and perhaps even cruel, if we don't share our excitement about Jesus and the life of discipleship with others.

Being impulsive can be a good way to practice discipleship. Amen.

Positive Identification

I Corinthians 1:1-9

Showing some form of identification has become common place in American society. I thought about how often I am asked to show my identification. You are required to show your ID when you check-in at the airport. And don’t put it away, because you’ll need it to get through security, too. You must show your ID when you are pulled over by the police and proof of insurance. When applying for a job, when purchasing cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, when picking up tickets at the “Will Call” booth: you must show positive identification.

Why? Why all the hassle? There are certain situations in life that involve sharing sensitive, personal information. In these situations we must be able to prove who we really are. We need to show we are who we say we are; to show our real and true identity.

It’s easy to forget who you really are even with a positive ID. This happened to the church in Corinth. According to Sosthenes, Paul’s co-author of this letter to the Corinthian church, some of the members of the church are quarreling with one another and forming competitive cliques, each claiming to be more spiritual than the other. This level of spiritual arrogance is tearing apart the body of Christ in Corinth as each group boasts of their spiritual superiority. They are boasting and taking the credit for everything God has given them and done for them.

The apostle Paul addresses these concerns amongst a boatload of church dysfunctions. You've got people fighting for power, abusing the sacraments, sleeping around, suing each other, teaching false doctrine and marriages are melting down. If a survey were floated around the church at Corinth, chances are the average parishioner would rate his or her level of satisfaction just above the Department of Motor Vehicles and just below jury duty. It was a total mess. They had forgotten who they are.

The sad but sobering truth is the same is often true in our churches, in today's churches. When you lift the hood on any and every congregation you'll see leaks and cracks, you'll hear thumps and rattles. The church of Jesus Christ is made up of people saved by and yet still desperately in need of Jesus Christ. The truth is the church in Corinth isn't all that different from every other church today. There will be immorality that comes to light, politics at play, marriages that are messy and a mission that misses the mark. There will always be, in some way, reasons for deep discouragement.

The Apostle Paul addresses the issues at Corinth head on. And, in doing so, lifts the Corinthian people out of the depths to which they'd sunk and back into a life of following Jesus, more aware of the dignity and beauty given to them as disciples of Christ. But what's equally instructive, yet often overlooked, is what Paul did before he laid down the law. Before correcting the mistakes, Paul made it clear that despite all that was broken in the church; he was still deeply and truly satisfied with what God was accomplishing in the church.

So there are three areas of the text that are very significant for us in our present age. The first is that the radical reforming and re-organization of life’s relationship through the work of God in Christ. Paul is not a self-determined individual. His life is dominated and directed by God. God’s grace radically changes lives. He knows who he is.

In the movie The Lion King, one of the most masterful scenes in the movie was when Mufasa appeared to Simba in the sky. He tells Simba he has forgotten who he is. Simba ran away and lived in the jungle with a meerkat and a warthog. As Mufasa fades away into the clouds, he tells Simba “Remember who you are.” God remembers who you are. Do you remember?

The second point is that we as Christians do not go it alone. Pastor and writer Eugene Peterson is quoted saying, “No life of faith can be lived privately. There must be overflow into the lives of others.” This is to say there is no “Lone Ranger” for Jesus. Following Christ is a team sport, not an individual one. Theologian Paul Tillich puts it this way, “We have considered the depth of the world and the depth of our souls. But we are only in a world through a community of men. And we can discover our souls only through the mirror of those who look at us. There is no depth of life without the depth of the common life.”[1] Our congregation is not isolated from the community of the world. Christian identity is formed and developed, not by looking to or at ourselves, but in our God-willed relationship to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Former Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa says, “You can't be a solitary human being. [We're] all linked. ... Because of this deep sense of community, the harmony of the group is a prime attribute. And so you realize that anything that undermines the harmony is to be avoided as much as possible. Anger and jealousy and revenge are particularly corrosive, so you try ... to enhance the humanity of the other, because in that process, you enhance your own.” As Christians we do not go it alone. We go in community with one another.

Recognizing the radical transformation of lives through the saving grace of Christ and knowing that Christians don’t go it alone, but only in community, Paul begins to share his joy for the Corinthians as well as his serious concerns based on the news he has heard. Paul recognizes the Corinthians are blessed with spiritual gifts from God, but they have abused and misunderstood God’s gifts and blessings as often as we do. The Corinthians behave as if they themselves were to be credited with their gifts from God, not God. How often do we take the credit when we are successful and blame God when bad things come our way? How often do we bask in the glory of our own selves when good things happen to us, but blame God when bad things happen to us and when we do not succeed as we had hoped. God gave the Corinthians all that they have and are in Christ. Good, bad and ugly: we are all called to give God the glory in all times and in all situations. We get ahead of ourselves and forget that God’s good gifts are given to sustain us in mutual love and trust. In other words, we take things for granted. I often take for granted that I am able to go to the store and buy food for my family to eat for weeks at a time, forgetting for the moment that there are so many in Kilgore and around the world who don’t know when and where they will get their next meal. When you turn on the faucet in the morning, clean water pours out, forgetting there are millions around the world who don’t have access to clean drinking water, even spending an entire day traveling many miles for a few gallons of water to simply survive for the day. We take for granted the love of our family and friends, the roof over our heads, the faith that has made us whole, and the blessings from God too numerous to count.

Louis C.K., a well-known and typically crass comedian, laments our shortsightedness and apathy in the face of the truly amazing blessings in our lives. "Everything is amazing and nobody is happy," he says. We get frustrated with our phone as it falters for a moment to load up the latest headlines from Fox News or The Huffington Post. "Give it a second!" He says. "It's going into space. Is the speed of light too slow for you?" We tell horror stories about cancelled flights and waiting on the tarmac for 20 minutes overlooking the fact that after such an inconvenience we were "strapped to a chair in the sky" flying from New York to Los Angeles in a matter of hours. That's a trip that "used to take 30 years" on foot and "by the time you arrived half the clan would be dead." Life's pretty good. [2]

It's easy to take our blessings for granted. How incredible is it that we lose sight of God’s blessings and lose out on what we are called to do as his disciples? We forget who we are and so we don’t recognize the fact that God’s gift to us is our actual identity in Christ. Christ is our positive identification for it is in him that our true identity exists; it is in Him that our true identity as the church exists.

Perhaps the more time you spend with something, even an amazing thing, the easier it is to notice limitations, flaws and missed opportunities; the easier it becomes to see a modern marvel as mundane, and as having room for improvement.

For far too many, that's where we are with the church. Yet, for all her struggles, she, the church, has a lot going for her. Let's never forget that. She -- we -- are still something to be satisfied with. Not because of what we bring to the table, no. But because of what God has done to us and through us in Christ.

May we always remember there is so much in our lives to find joy, peace and satisfaction: for we are transformed by the grace of God, living in community and blessed with the gift of our identity in Christ Jesus. Remember who you are! Amen.

---

[1] Paul Tillich, from Shaking the Foundations, cited in The Education of the Heart (New York: Harper Collins, 1996), 223.

[2] C.K., Louis. "Everything is amazing and nobody is happy." Video Dailymotion [Video file]. dailymotion.com/video/x8m5d0_everything-is-amazing-and-nobody-i_fun. (n.d.).

Playing Favorites

Acts 10:34-43

I would be lying to you if I declared that I do not play favorites. Because all of us do; all of us have preferences and favorites. While one person may prefer constant noise, another prefers constant silence. Some people prefer Coke, while others Pepsi. My favorite musician is Bruce Springsteen, while yours may be George Strait, Garth Brooks, Elvis Presley, Lawrence Welk or One Direction. We have a favorite ice cream, a sports team, a hobby; a favorite radio station, web site, TV channel, clothing store; a favorite car, truck and vacation spot; a favorite restaurant in your favorite city at your favorite time of the year. We all play favorites. We maintain personal preferences. Each of us favors one thing over another.

We may do so, but the God of creation does not. The Good News for you and me revealed to us in our scripture reading from Acts today is given to us by Peter, who says, "God shows no partiality," and by that he means there's no favoritism, no preferential treatment. No one on this earth gets more love from God than any other person. In Peter’s situation, the boundaries that once separated one group from another have been destroyed. We witness the work of the Holy Spirit shattering the boundaries between Jews and Greeks, between the “chosen” people of God and the rest of the world. In this story we forsee the course of the Gospel reaching humans of all nations, bringing the people of the world together as children of God; so that each of us is treated equally in the eyes of God.

There are four crucial themes I want to highlight from our text this morning that I hope will help us better understand what God is doing here with a Gentile, Roman soldier.

I.

Peter declares the impartiality of God and God’s judgment. The Greek word translated "partiality" is uncommon. It is a Semitic idiom that literally means "God is not one who receives human faces." God doesn't just glance at our faces and make a snap judgment, as so many of us do with our neighbors. God doesn't stop with the externals. God looks deep within. Outward appearances do not influence God, for God does not view persons according to human standards. God is interested in peoples’ attitude and what’s in their heart. God is more concerned with the person than the mask we often put up as self-protection.

Think of the last time you were on a busy train or at an airport or even the mall. Remember the sea of faces all around you, displaying a variety of expressions, a range of emotions. Remember, also, the skin colors, the body types, the clothing, the hair styles, the tattoos.

The human mind is a remarkable calculating engine. It draws so many conclusions in the barest instant of time. It makes judgments we're scarcely aware of. Can you even recall a few of the judgments your mind made, based on those faces you observed there, in the station or airport? Did you not pigeonhole a good many of those faces, categorizing them as either a foreigner or native-born, rich or poor, lazy or hard-working, dangerous or benign?

If so, you did what Peter says God never does. You "received human faces." You made a multitude of judgments, based on very little information at all.

Something that's partial is fragmentary, a piece of the whole. Human love is partial in just that sense. So many mixed motives affect our love for other people. Self-interest creeps in, spoiling the selfless, altruistic love to which we aspire.

II.

Peter declares that as Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and did the work of God, he was the very demonstration of the power of God. Jesus is Lord of all. Jesus is the answer to our questions about God and God’s will for our lives. If you want to know God, you must know Jesus and his teachings. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus taught in parables, illustrating what the kingdom is like. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32). “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field (Matthew 13:44), or like a merchant in search of fine pearls (13:45), or like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind (13:47), or like a wedding banquet given by the king who invited everyone but they would not attend (22:2). If you want to know what God is thinking and doing, we must recognize that he is Lord of all and realize that his way of living is to be our way of living. We are called to show no partiality toward anyone. We are called to see ourselves and one another as God sees.

III.

In vv. 38-40, we hear from Peter about how God’s initiative, action and achievement in Jesus Christ, is met with human resistance, rebellion and rejection, which is overturned by divine affirmation, vindication and exaltation of Jesus the Christ. In other words, this is the pattern of the relationship between God and humanity that serves as the framework of our lives. At the start, it’s all about God’s love, but at the heart of this exchange, this relationship is the reality of our sinfulness; our separation from God. Yet we do not have the last word, God does. For God triumphs and grace abounds so that the message we receive is the good news and not a tragedy.

IV.

Lastly, vv. 42-43 declare that Christ commands his followers to witness to the world of God by telling others that God has authorized Jesus to be the judge of the living and the dead. Our God is an awesome God who made Jesus Christ to be so powerful and commanding; so great and mighty. With such power at work, we who believe in him are able to receive forgiveness of our sins through his name. And we who believe are transformed, renewed and made new. We witness this time and time again throughout the Gospel writings and the New Testament. He’s the healer, the doctor, the comforter, the one who has come to make all things new. There is no partiality when it comes to the work of Christ in creation.



God doesn't go by the kind of arithmetic that you and I go by. God has never learned to deal in fractions. God didn't get that far in school. I think he's like the father who had ten children, and one of the children thinks, "Well, my goodness, with a family this big, Daddy can't love me very much. I can only claim one tenth of his love." But the father loved each child with all of his love, not just a fraction of it. It's just that way with God’s love. There is no fraction in it. You can't break it up into pieces; and God wants to love and care for the whole human race. He doesn’t deal in fractions.

We often find in the Gospels that Jesus is constantly correcting these people who were griping and mumbling and grumbling about the fact that he was taking in all kinds of people, bums and drunks and the poor folks and everybody, Jesus was saying, "Well, I just can't help it. God just has a sentimental attachment for his people. And, whether you like it or not, God loves 'em, and it does seem to me that if they're precious in God's sight, they ought to be precious in yours, too."[1]

As the Holy Spirit comes upon Cornelius and his household, Peter baptizes them with water and becomes a witness to God’s intention that the Gentiles become a part of the Christian community. God does not play favorites. God seeks everyone.








[1] Clarence Jordan, Cotton Patch Parables of Liberation (Herald Books, 1976).

Do You See What I See?

Isaiah 61:10 – 62:3
Luke 2: 22-40

A friend of mine was examining a painting in my office by Thomas Eakins entitled Between Rounds. He asked me, “Do you see what I see?”

“I don’t know. What do you see?” I responded. The painting is of a boxer, sitting in his corner, head back, hands on the ropes, referee waving a white towel at him, with spectators looking bored and uninterested ready to head to the exit doors. And it’s only the second round!

My friend, with passion and enthusiasm, said, “I see a young man in the fight of his life ready to pack it in, with the circumstances and the odds against him, ready to give up. But there is a fire still burning deep inside him that won’t let him quit.”

With less optimism, I replied, “Really, I don’t see that at all. I see a man who’s been hit, punched, scratched and beat too much. He’s obviously overmatched and the crowd knows it.”

One of the things that make works of art so amazing and powerful is that two people could be looking at the same piece of art and “see” different things. My friends saw a dire yet hopeful situation, while I saw a man ready to throw in the towel.

I have heard it said that, “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” Thrift stores, yard sales and rummage sales are based on this idea. Where I may see a twelve place-setting formal china collection missing only one saucer, someone else sees the set of formal china they’ve always wanted but could never afford. Where you may see an old framed oil painting collecting dust in your attic, I see a priceless work of art suitable for hanging in the world’s finest museum. Same things, same circumstances, yet different point of view.

In our scripture lesson this morning, we learn about the background and life of Jesus of Nazareth. The author Luke believes it is important to remember that Jesus was not an outsider to the Jewish faith, but rather he was steeped in it his whole life. Mary and Joseph were devout and righteous Jews. They didn’t just worship God on the high holy days or when it was convenient for them or whether or not the Cowboys were home or away. They didn’t miss services and observances for anything. So Jesus, from the day he is born, is saturated in Judaism, the Hebrew scriptures, and the traditions of his faith. In accordance with the Law of Moses, they come to the Temple in Jerusalem for two important rituals: the purification of the mother after childbirth and the dedication of the firstborn son to God.

Luke wants to us to focus on one point of view: God’s point of view; the point of view given to Simeon and Ana, two devout and righteous believers. They see Jesus for who he truly is. Where most see an ordinary boy, the son of two humble devout parents, Simeon and Ana recognize Jesus as the salvation of Israel and the world. Same situation; different points of view.

I believe that it is through the Holy Spirit that we are able to see the world around us and everything in it as God sees it. We become in tune with the Spirit of God through study and prayer, participation in the life of our community, so we can know the truth of who we are. And the truth will set us free, free to see and know each other and our world through God’s eyes. Who doesn’t want that?

Simeon and Ana saw Jesus in a way nobody else did or could. They understood who Jesus REALLY was and what he was all about: the salvation of Israel, the anointed one, the Messiah, the one who would cause the rise and fall of many in Israel, the one who would turn the world upside down. Simeon and Ana were faithful, devout and righteous followers of God who committed their entire lives to worship and service to God. They were in tune with God, in sync with the vision God has for the redemption of creation. Because of their faithfulness and devotion, they were to see God’s vision of what the future would be.

Like Simeon and Ana, with the power of the Holy Spirit, you and I need to develop our faith and service to Christ by committing our whole selves to God’s kingdom. We can’t just give money. We can’t just give our time. We can’t try to be a good person or be perfect. We need to seek God’s vision for our community life and our individual life as well, so that we may live in truth and victory in Christ Jesus.

I read a short poem many years ago that had been transcribed from the walls of a cellar in Cologne, Germany, where Jews hid from Nazis. It reads, “I believe in the sun even when it is not shining; I believe in love when feeling it not; I believe in God even when He is silent.” Despite the living hell they found themselves in where all hope seemed lost, they did not lose their God-given vision. They did not lose faith. They saw the world through the eyes of God.

I am grateful for the many influential teachers I had through my childhood and teenage years. I think each of us can name at least one or two teachers who were extremely influential on us. In a newspaper interview many years ago, The Reverend Jesse Jackson recalled this childhood memory. “First day in the sixth grade, I’ll never forget it,” recalled Jackson. “My teacher was Miss Shelton, and she began writing these long words on the blackboard we couldn’t understand, never even heard of before. We all looked around and started whispering to each other, ‘She has the wrong class. She thinks we’re in the eighth-grade class.’

“Somebody finally called out, ‘Uh, Miss Shelton? Those are eighth-grade words. We are only in sixth grade.’

“She turned around. ‘I know what grade you are. And you’ll learn every one of these words, and a lot more like them, before this year is over. I will not teach down to you. One of you little brats just might be mayor or governor, or even president, some day, and I’m gonna make sure you’ll be ready.’

“And she turned back and went right on writing.” At that time, Jackson says, her proposition prompted no glow of possibility in him. “Aim to be governor? Even aim to be mayor, when in Greenville there wasn’t a single African-American on the Board of Education, in the police department, the fire department? And aim to be president?!”

Before any great accomplishment, someone must have a vision. Before dealing a hand, someone must cut the cards. In order for God to redeem and save creation and humanity, God has a vision. That vision is Jesus Christ. And when we confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, when we place God in Christ as the number one priority in our lives, I believe we become a participant in this God-given vision. We encounter the truth and the truth sets us free from ourselves and leads us to our loving and graceful creator.

This is no easy task. It’s not a trouble-free journey. It’s not easy to put our own wants and desires in the background and God in the foreground. Pride and selfishness do not give up their power easily. Doubts and uncertainties come to us all. With Christ as our vision, we have a beacon of light to which we may orient ourselves and get our bearings.

We as a church community must discern the call of Christ on our lives, to be Christ in our time. We must dream things that never were and ask why not while praying and discerning the vision GOD has for our lives as individuals and as a community. God asks us, “Do you see what I see? I see the marvelous, beautiful creatures I made in my image. I love each you no matter what. Why is that so hard to understand?”

We stand today on the edge of a new year in the life of our church family as we begin the 164th year of ministry in the name of Jesus Christ in this community. As our community and our world continue to evolve and change, how shall we respond? As we imagine how our ministry may have a greater impact on our community, as the cultural fabric of our town becomes more diverse, what vision will drive us forward and lead us into this new year, this new exciting, uncertain, wondrous and scary era in the life of our congregation?

Will our actions speak louder than our words? Will we put our money where our mouths are? Will we see the glass half empty or half full? Will we continue to seek the small, still voice of God in all that we say and do?

In the book, More than You and Me, Kevin and Karen Miller write of the power of a God-given vision. They write about a couple who lived in London in the 19th century. For the first ten years of their marriage, William Booth, was in a quandary: What was God calling him to do?

Then his wife, Catherine, a skillful Bible teacher, was invited to preach in London. While they were there, William took a late-night walk through the slums of London’s East End. Every fifth building was a pub. Most had steps at the counter so little children could climb up and order gin. That night he told Catherine, “I seemed to hear a voice sounding in my ears, ‘Where can you go and find such heathen as these, and where is there so great a need for your labors?’ Darling, I have found my destiny!”

Later that year, 1865, the couple opened the “Christian Mission” in London’s slums. Their life vision: to reach the “down-and-outers” that other Christians ignored. That simple God-given vision of two people grew into the Salvation Army, which now ministers through millions of members all around the world.

My friends, vision has power, especially a God-given vision. So let us forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead, press on toward the goal, the God-given vision, for the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us work together, through our committees, teams and ministries of FPC, seeing the world and each other through one vision, one set of eyes, God’s eyes. And when we do this, when we are of one mind and one vision, there is no telling what exhilaratingly scary places God will lead us.

Thanks be to God for this marvelous gift! Amen.

Like Us in Every Way

Hebrews 2:10-18

Will you pray with me? Precious Lord, may your spirit enter into our awaiting hearts. You know where we are and the joys and trials we face. Grant me the gift of preaching, that your Word would become a reality for each of us, that it may reach out and touch all of us at our point of need. We pray this with confidence and faithfulness in the name of Jesus the Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

I know it has come and gone, but I love Christmas and the Advent season. All the decorations, the wreaths, Christmas trees, houses covered with lights and figurines in the yard, the giving of gifts to family and friends, the parties, the special church services, the commemoration of the birth of Christ and preparing for his return: what a special time of year it is! And with the birth of Jesus the Christ, God becomes a living, breathing human being. We’ve heard about it. We’ve sung about it. We’ve prayed about it. But what does it all mean and why did it happen this way?

Why did God in Christ come to earth in the first place and as a human being? Couldn’t God, the creator of the heavens and the earth and all its inhabitants, have been perhaps a little more creative in His approach? God can do anything: anything is possible with God. Why couldn’t God just clap his hands and make things on earth work right and help all humanity to get along with one another. Why couldn’t he just declare that the sin of humanity is erased forever and that’s it? Why did God in the person of Jesus Christ come to earth as a human?

Once upon a time a man was walking through a trail in the woods. After hiking for several hours, he stopped for lunch along the trail. As he was eating he noticed a huge anthill nearby. He watched the ants scurrying along in and out of the anthill. The man began to wonder to himself how he could communicate with the ants, talk to them, and find out what all the rush was about. At first he blew some air on a few of the ants who got caught in the breeze, rolled across the ground, and kept right on walking like nothing ever happened. The man tried to fill in the hole at the top of the anthill with some dirt. Within moments the dirt was moved away and the ants went back to their regular routine as if nothing ever happened. The man thought, “These ants don’t see me here. They probably thought my breath was a hurricane force wind and the dirt in the hole in their anthill junk falling from the sky. I loom over them with my shadow and their day becomes night. But I can’t talk to and communicate with them like I would talk to my friends and family.” It finally occurred to the man that in order for him to talk with the ants and tell them about humans and other animals and what causes the rain and wind and more, he would have to become an ant and live among the ants. To communicate with the ants, he would have become an ant. In order to understand firsthand what it was like to be an ant, to experience the sufferings and hardships as well as the joys of being an ant, he would have to become an ant.

In a similar way, God came to earth as a human being to communicate directly with us. God tried the flood, spoke through the prophets, and worked through the ancient judges and kings of Israel to communicate with us. God became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ so that he could directly speak to us about Himself and the Kingdom of God. God also came to earth to experience what we experience: suffering, hardship, joy, happiness, sadness and other human conditions. God came to earth as a human being and was like us in every way.

Why is it so important that God in Jesus Christ share in our humanity as he did? We can find three reasons why in today’s scripture reading:

1) The first reason is that in living and dying as a human being, he could free us from the power of death over humanity. When Jesus was crucified on the cross, he died like any other human being. He entered into Hell. But because he was of God and had no sin, he conquered death and the power death has over human beings. He literally broke down the gates of hell for you and me, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin and death. So when we say we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are saying that we believe that Jesus has saved us, that is freed us, from the power of death over our lives.

2) The second reason is that Jesus, by becoming the final sacrifice for the sin of humanity, he could reconcile us to God in himself. Jesus became the final and perfect sacrifice for the sin of humanity past, present and future because even though he was tested and tempted like you and I are every day, he did not sin and fall into temptation. He is able to sympathize with us because Jesus has experienced what we have experienced: sufferings, hardships, temptations, as humans, but did not sin. Jesus was not tainted by sin as you and I are. Thus, he became the perfect sacrifice “who bore our griefs and carried our diseases…wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.”(Isaiah 53:4-5)

3) The third reason why it is so important that Jesus share in our humanity is in experiencing temptation, Jesus can better help us with our own temptation and challenges. Jesus is our teacher and our mentor as well as our Lord and Savior. Because Jesus was like us in every way, he is qualified and certified to help you and me as we continue to be tested and tempted every day. It is similar to a parent teaching a child. I remember my mom and dad, when I had troubles growing up, would always start with the same words: “I remember when I was your age I went through the same thing. Do you know I handled it?” And they would go on and explain it to me. It was always a teaching moment where I learned from someone who had similar hardships and sufferings at one time in their lives. Jesus knows our sufferings and hardships. He knows what tempts us to follow our own way rather than God’s way. He knows because he was like us in every way and experienced the same temptation and challenges we do. Jesus stands right beside us, step by step, walking with us giving us the strength and endurance to meet our temptations head on.

What does this mean for you and me? It means that we have a Savior who can relate to us on our level. If you wanted to communicate and identify with an ant, you would have to become an ant. So God in Christ Jesus came down from his heavenly throne and became a mortal human being who lived and dwelt among us. It teaches us what it means to be in a relationship with other human beings, other living creatures and with God. Through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, freeing us from the power of death, identifying with all humanity completely and fully, you and I are reconnected to the Living God of the universe. We are reconnected so that we can be in relationship with true life and true freedom. May we always remember the meaning behind Christmas as the beginning of God reconciling humanity to Himself. Jesus was like us in every way so that we may become brothers and sisters in the family of God. Amen.

Unexpected Joy (Christmas Eve Message)

Isaiah 9:2-7
Titus 2:11-14
Matthew 1:18-25

I once lived in one of the coldest places I’ve ever been, Chicago, Illinois. It was a cold, windy Sunday in December and the lights and sounds of Christmas filled the air. I went to church that day downtown on North Michigan Avenue. After church, I braved the bone-chilling cold and did some shopping for Christmas. After a cold and crisp afternoon going in and out of stores, I had enough. 

So I walked to the subway station to head uptown. As I sat on one of the benches, tired and exhausted from my mighty shopping expedition, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a man; a simple, tired man whose wrinkled face did not accurately reflect his true age. He was standing on the platform with a paper coffee cup on the ground at his feet. He was wearing old, dirty sneakers with a couple of layers of socks on each foot. His pants were black, worn and faded. Under an old army camouflage jacket, this man wore several layers of tattered shirts and sweaters. Upon his head was a beat up Chicago Bulls wool hat, on his hands were a pair of finger-less gloves, and wrapped around his neck was a long, old wool scarf. He was not a beautiful sight to behold. But just when I was about to write him off in my mind as another bum on the street, he began to sing. His voice was magnificent! His voice carried beautifully through the entire subway station as he sang “Little Drummer Boy”. He was stomping his foot on the station floor and clapping his hands together to the rhythm of the song. “I have no gift to bring, Ra ba ba ba ba”. The music was so joyful and so amazing. I was overwhelmed. Here was a man, down and out, a beggar by society’s standards, singing in the subway station that he has no gift to give; no gift to bring, as thousands of people come and go with bags and boxes of gifts for Christmas. The irony of it all is that this man did have a gift, a gift of joyful praise, sent by God to be shared with all who heard him that afternoon. The joy I felt was not from having gone to church that morning or from all the Christmas hoopla or from spending money on Christmas gifts. The joy I felt came from a most unexpected source and at a most unexpected time and place: from a poor man singing on a subway platform.

The baby Jesus was born at an unexpected time and place, in an unexpected way; catching the world off-guard and unprepared. This joyous gift from God began to turn the world upside down. Amazing, isn’t it? The world turned upside down by the birth of a child. The joy of God comes through this simple birth; this joy seizes the mind, body and soul of a person and having taken hold, it spreads, it grows, it breaks down barriers and opens closed doors shining the light of life into the deep darkness of our lives.

May you come to expect the unexpected. May you come to see this simple, humble birth as the way God chooses to know us, relate to us and ultimately redeem us. The Christ child is the greatest of gifts available to all who believe and trust in Him.