Now What Do We Do?

John 20: 19-31

It’s the first day of the week and we find our disciple-friends living in fear.  They are uncertain about what has happened to their rabbi Jesus.  They are a confused and bewildered by the events of the past week.  Even though Mary Magdelene told them that very morning that she saw Jesus alive again, the disciples don’t believe her.  They are paralyzed by fear and apprehension.

They don’t want to be found or discovered.  They are afraid and so they hide from the world and its troubles and difficulties.  They are afraid.  They are asking themselves, “Now what do we do?”  Waiting for an answer from someone, somewhere.

When things go wrong or don’t go as expected, when life gets difficult, challenging, or overwhelming, our tendency is to run and hide.  Unless I’ve missed my guess is there someone here today who is overwhelmed by their circumstances and living in fear?  Is there someone here today dealing with a broken relationship, a job loss, downsizing to a smaller home, figuring out how to best care for an elderly loved one, attending new school in the fall?  Is there someone here today who put their faith in someone or something trusting that they would come through for you, but in the end they didn’t and now it hurts and left a deep pain in your gut.  Now what do we do?

It is in the midst of their fear and insecurity that the disciples see Jesus, the fully resurrected Jesus, in their presence.  He’s live and in living techni-color!  He’s as real as you and me.  All this despite the fact that the doors and windows were locked, Jesus entered into their realm.  Despite their best efforts to isolate themselves from the world around them, Jesus entered their realm with the purpose to re-build and re-gather this community of believers.  He comes to drive out the fear and uncertainty in their hearts so they could become a community of faith once again. 

In essence, the resurrection of Christ is a community-building event.  It’s the central experience that unites all Christians.  The Christian life of faith is only lived in community.  It can not be lived in isolation, yet there are many who try.  I’ve heard it said by some that there is no point of going to church because I don’t get anything out of it.  It’s not about getting, it’s about giving and having the chance to serve others.  I’ve heard it said that church is boring.  I say stop whining and adding to the boredom.  Some say the church is filled with hypocrites.  That’s because all human beings are imperfect and can be hypocritical at times.  I have heard it said that you don’t need to go to church, as long as you are a good person and don’t hurt anyone.  I say by whose standards are you measuring yourself, God’s or your own? 

Poor Thomas!  He missed Jesus the first time he came around. He was left out; on the outside looking in.

“You’ll never guess who was just here?” 

“Who?” 

“Jesus was here.  You just missed him.”

“Doh!”

The disciples tell Thomas all that happened, all that he missed.  Thomas gets a bad rep because he wants physical proof, too, as the other disciples had received.  All week Thomas waited and waited.  And he’s probably thinking to himself, “The guys all saw him and he gave them new life by the Spirit.  Will Jesus re-appear?  What if he doesn’t come back?  Now what do I do?

The good news is Jesus does appear to Thomas, so Thomas is no longer on the outside looking in.  He’s accepted, not rejected.  He’s included, not excluded.  He is received into the community with the others and given the same gift of the spirit.

We witness the birth of this community, the church, when the resurrected Christ gives them the ultimate community-builder, the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the presence of God that unites the body of Christ. 

With the Holy Spirit, the disciples of the past and the church of today have the power to come together as a community of faith.  As a community, we have the power to stand up courageously against fear, affliction, and injustice.  As a community, we have the power of the Living God as seen and known in the resurrected Christ.  We have the confidence and assurance to stand tall in the midst of pain and suffering as the body of Christ, to stand up against even the most fervent opposition.  We don’t have to run anymore.  We don’t need to hide anymore.  We don’t need to live in fear anymore, for fear has been conquered.

The walls the disciples’ constructed couldn’t keep the world out anymore than the huge stone could keep Jesus in the tomb. 

As Christians, we are called to be members of the body of Christ, a part of the community of faith.  We are called to make a difference in the world as His body.  We are called to dream new dreams, form new visions and inspire one another to share Christ with the world.  Do you have a dream?

However, sin causes us to struggle as the body of Christ.  Sin influences each of us to construct walls around ourselves to isolate ourselves from each other and the world. 

We put up a wall by ignoring people.  We don’t let anybody get too close to us.  We don’t want anyone to know us too well.  For some, just a simple friendly, “Hi.  How are you?” can pass for a meaningful relationship. 

We put up a wall through the abuse of alcohol and other substances or an addiction of any kind.  Our fear of being known and the pain and suffering we experience are shoved down deep through addictive behavior.  The numbness that results serves as a wall isolating us from our families, friends, and co-workers, although only temporary. 

We put up a wall by keeping a busy schedule of events and appointments.  We rush through a never-ending maze of business meetings, dance practices, athletic practices and games, and various errands.  When we are asked to volunteer our time for charitable cause, our reaction is often that we are way too busy.  Maybe some other time, we say, which almost always means never. 

We put up a wall by surrounding ourselves with material possessions and affluence.  A large, fancy home, the latest fashions from the most fashionable designers, new cars, season tickets for sporting events, vacations to exotic ports of call staying at five-star hotels and restaurants.  Such things keep us in our own worlds and isolate us from the unwanted suffering and pain of others. 

By living our lives behind these walls and doors of isolation, we become comfortable and stable, stuck in a rut we don’t want to get out of.  We become so comfortable and so stable that we don’t stretch ourselves or strive to reach out and take part in the body of Christ or the world around us.

We all need to realize that isolating ourselves is all in vain!  We can’t live the life God wants us to live in isolation behind walls of fear and insecurity.  In order to live the life God wants us to live, we need to embrace the community, participate in it and through it, and to fellowship with one another.

Now what do we do?  How can we embrace community?  How can we strengthen our own community of faith?  It begins with our need to seek the Living God each and everyday.  We need to pray asking God to dwell in our midst through the power and work of the Holy Spirit; to direct our steps and guide our thoughts.

I know this is not easy.  It is not easy to change your life; to change the culture of our church.  With God’s grace, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, we no longer have to live for ourselves.  We no longer have to be isolated from one another.  Through the Holy Spirit, we can face our fears, our imperfections, our problems and our pain with a faith that comes from knowing Christ and Christ alone in the community of faith, the church of Jesus Christ. 

With this faith, we move from living in fear and isolation to living in peace and in community.  With this faith, we bear each other’s burdens with grace and love in community.  With this faith, we are able as the church to share with the world the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And with this faith, we shall live in earnest for that day when our Risen Lord shall come again.

Amen.

The God Story: The Twist Ending

John 20:1-18

I.

Throughout the season of Lent, we have been talking about a story, the story of God and God’s people found in the Bible. It’s easy to miss the fact that the Bible holds a story. Is there a connection between the God of Adam and Eve and the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? And what in the world does that have to do with Jesus? And the real question is, “What does that have to do with me?”

What we have discovered is that in fact there is a story here. There are common threads that run throughout the Bible. We have discovered that it is in this story upon which all great stories find their structure and their parts. It is within this story that we find any hope that our story might have meaning.

We have talked about the inevitability of uncertainty in our stories—that in a story, you don’t know what is coming next. You don’t know what the next chapter will be. It is a mystery we live into. In this way, life is more like a story than a formula or a timeline.

II.

Still, there are some big moments that are expected. You can tell when a big day is coming. You can sense it. A good storyteller lets you know that you have arrived at one of those monumental, story-changing moments. You can feel it, like your first kiss, or your wedding day, or that hike to the top of Half Dome at Yosemite National Park or to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, or that first big deal that you seal, or the first time you hold your child or grandchild. A good storyteller lets you know leading up to that, that this is a big day. So they invite us to read slowly and pay attention. These moments will shape the character forever.

One of the biggest experiences for a young boy involved in Cub Scouts is Pinewood Derby Race Day. And in my first year of cub scouts, I couldn’t wait until they set up the racetracks in my elementary school cafeteria for the big race.

I knew it would be a big day for me, and I know this sounds silly, but I just knew I would win a trophy. I knew it would be a life-defining, historical day for me,

When they gave me my block of pinewood, I could see the car already. Immediately, I went to work in our basement. My dad watched over my shoulder to supervise my work, especially working with saws, but he let me design it. Though I had straight and sleek lines in mind, when I actually drew them on the block and then cut them, they weren’t as straight and sleek as I had envisioned. My car was uneven and unbalanced, but I couldn’t see it at that time. To me it looked perfect. When I finished, my dad helped me spray paint it. Looking at the car, it looked more like a piece of modern art than a car. After attaching the wheels, I knew my awkward-looking car was a winner! The trophy was in my grasp.

I showed up to the school cafeteria, and everything changed. To my horror, I saw the other cars, and they looked like cars. They had racing stripes and window decals and numbers. How could I have forgotten a number? I wasn’t deterred, though. I thought, “Let’s race and leave it all on the track.” There were two races. If you won, you advanced, and on and on it would go until the fastest cars raced at the end.

In both races, my car finished dead last.

Here’s what I remember from that devastating time. Sitting in a chair, my head down, holding my piece of modern art, listening to the whizz of Pinewood Derby cars and the occasional cheers from parents, I thought, “How did this day, this big day, this defining day, this trophy day, turn out like this?” Everything in my story said this day would be one thing, and now it was something quite different. Now the story seemed over.

(hold up block of wood) As you look at this piece of wood, think about some of the things in your story that started out with such promise and potential and ended up as bad art.

As you think about that, I want to recap the God Story for you as we have looked at it together during this Lenten season. In the beginning is our Introduction to the main character of this story, God.

We are introduced to God and God is powerful and mysterious and just by speaking can set the whole world in motion. After speaking humans into creation, God takes an incredible, unprecedented step, God speaks to that which God created. Immediately we know this God is different from other gods. This was Thread #1 in the story: God speaks because God desires relationship. God doesn’t want to be a far off God. Shortly after, the man and the woman choose to do their own thing rather than follow God, listening to the bad guy and listening to their stomachs over the word of God, beginning their thread of deceit and betrayal.

The laughable dream of Abraham showed us Thread #2: If God makes a promise, God keeps it. As we watched the wandering people of God get frustrated in the wilderness, we found Thread #3: God will provide all you need for the journey. Then with David, we saw an unlikely little shepherd boy become king—Thread #4: God calls the unlikely and gives them a better story. We talked about how the Soundtrack to this whole story is the prophetic voice singing over us the beautiful message of Thread #5: God’s love is reoccurring and relentless.

The people of God were waiting, waiting for a new king, the real king, the king God would send. They are waiting on Resolution. A young boy, born to an unlikely family, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the first day of Passover. Jesus comes riding in on a donkey and the people recognize Jesus of Nazareth as King. They say “Here is the King of Israel, Hosanna, save us now.”

This is our big day, the moment we hoped for, the moment we knew would come; we could sense it coming in the story, and here it is—our defining moment—God will make things right; God will give us our rightful place; God will save us.

This is the first of the week, and by Friday, they have nailed that same man, the one they said was King to a piece of wood. We want to think that we wouldn’t have done that, but everything about the story and our story points to the fact that we would have.

III. 

Big days don’t always go as we expected, and this can be disappointing.

The disciples, Jesus’ closest friends, spend Friday and Saturday and into the night, thinking how in the world did this happen? This was going to be it, our big day, our defining moment. Now the story is over.

For Mary, it’s over. And if you have ever experienced something you think is over, it’s an empty, lonely, scary feeling. When the thing you need most is done—the part of the story you need most to continue—you feel lost. And this was one of those from every possible angle. It’s done.

Mary showed up at the tomb that morning and it was over. Done. Jesus himself had said on the cross where they could hear him, “It is finished.” Mary comes to the garden alone. She sees the empty tomb, runs to tell Peter and John. They come, investigate the situation, and go home, which is their way of dealing with the doneness of this situation.

And then…suddenly she’s not alone. You know the feeling when you think you’re alone and then you find out your not. It’s unsettling. You put your guard up; you become very aware of your surroundings, surroundings you had ignored moments ago.

Your brain tries to make sense of it quickly. I’m in a garden. He must be the gardener. You speak before you’ve thought it all through.

“If you have taken his body somewhere, it’s ok; just let me know where he is, and I will get it. You’re not in trouble; just tell me where he is!”

And then…

“Mary.”

“Mary,” he says.

Had she even looked at him yet? Had she even turned to see whose shadow it was?

“Mary,” he said.

And she knew. And you know how, when your mom says your name over the phone when you answer, or your spouse says it as they lay next to you, or your hear your child call it from a room down the hall, you know who just spoke your name? Mary knew.

It wasn’t over. It wasn’t done. He wasn’t gone. He wasn’t dead. She wasn’t dead inside. She wasn’t done. Her life wasn’t over.

It was Jesus. The Jesus run wasn’t over. The Jesus relationship wasn’t over.

She knows it’s Jesus and that he is God. And he still speaks to call us into relationship, that God kept his promise, and that Jesus has been all she needed for her journey. And he calls her, the unlikely one, and has given her a better story. And the story of a reoccurring relentless love that will not give up on her, will go the grave and come back and not give up.

This is what they call in a story, or in a movie, the Twist Ending. Sometimes it is called the big reveal, or the moment of truth. Finally it all makes sense. Most great stories do this. When hope is lost, the amazing, unthinkable happens.

Back at the Pinewood Derby, I sat there until all the races were finished. They began calling out the winners of the trophies: first, second, and third for every den, and then overall. My head still down, they said, “And now for our last award of the night, probably the most anticipated trophy of each year, goes to one of our youngest scouts. The winner of the 1979 Pack Favorite Award goes to Scott Nowack!”

I couldn’t believe it. I was shocked and surprised as I walked up there, I’m sure now my dad paid somebody off, but in that moment I thought, “How could I have forgotten about the Pack Favorite Award?” And I promise you it was a defining moment for me, to be shaken from my introspective grief to see that there was a bigger, better story for me. I became a kid, who could hold hope for something good even when bad things happened, who would have the courage to dream and dream big.

This story, this Jesus story, says I can take whatever you’ve got and give you the best prize. It is a Twist Ending to the story. I bet you didn’t see this coming: that Jesus could come and take your thread of betrayal, deceit, messing up, or whatever it is that you think defines you, and speak to you. He speaks your name in a way that you will know it’s him. He keeps his promise of life and hope to you and gives you all you need. He writes you a better story, unlikely though you may be, and you see how relentless Jesus is in telling you that he loves you.

It changes everything. Easter is the Twist Ending we’ve all been waiting for. Easter is the “You think it’s over, but it’s not.”

The sun rose this morning, same as it has for thousands of years, same as it did the first Easter morning. It says, God is not done. God is not through with us yet. Jesus is not dead. Jesus is alive. He has risen. He has risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen!

The God Story: Waiting on Resolution

John 12:12-19

I.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is one of the biggest sporting events of the year. Millions of people tune into watch; tens of thousands fill out a bracket. But it is fascinating that the interest in the tournament goes down every weekend. Why? Because when you watch those first couple rounds, there are all kinds of uncertainty. You have no idea what might happen next. Every year, there are “Cinderella stories” of underdog teams that pull the upset and beat the favorite. This year was no exception.

These are the moments that all sports fans long for, found in the closing seconds of the game when a shot lifts towards the goal or when a pass sails through the air towards the end zone and what happens with that ball determines the outcome of the game. The moment before the moment we know how it all works out is the one that people wait for and watch for.

I’ll never forget Doug Flutie’s “Hail Mary” pass with seconds left on the clock against the University of Miami. Flutie dropped back to pass, evaded a defensive player by scrambling to his right, eyed his target, planted his feet and let it fly. It’s in that moment, as the ball flies through the air it seems as if time stands still for those few seconds. We hold our breath and wait. We wait for resolution.

I attended my first World Series game back in 1999, Game 4 at the old Yankee Stadium, Yankees vs. the Atlanta Braves. Yankees are up 3 games to none. With each passing inning, you could feel the anticipation building. By the 5th inning, almost everybody was standing. By the 7th inning, everybody was standing and cheering. The energy was electric and contagious. With each out made, the tension and anticipation kept growing and growing. We were all waiting for resolution, for that final out that would seal the deal for the Yankees to become World Series champions.

The uncertainty and excitement of moments like these, the moments before the moment, are what we live for. Much of our life, much of our story is found in the moments leading up to when the ball goes in the air and the final out is made.

Some of you will remember from middle school the simple graph that shows the structure of a story. After the story reaches its climax, it begins moving towards Resolution. Resolution is where everything is wrapped up and tied up neatly. Much of our life is found waiting for Resolution.

II.

Much of the God Story finds its characters waiting for Resolution as well. Abraham waits for the son that is promised to him by God. At the age of seventy-five he receives that promise, and then he waits decades to see it resolved. The Israelites wait to enter the Promised Land; they are released from slavery and wait for decades to make it to their future home. The Hebrew people call out for a king, and then it turns out the kings they get are not the kings they wanted, and so they wait for the King, the Messiah, the anointed future king. They wait for centuries. They cry, “When is he going to come? When are we going to be set free? When do we get our real King, the one who can save us?”

By the time Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem, the people are ready and waiting and chomping at the bit. This isn’t one of those moments when the people are all mixed up; this is one of those moments when they get it, and they get it right. There were enough people who recognized that Jesus was the one, unlikely though he may be. After all, they had been disappointed before with other false Messiahs and unfulfilled apocalyptic promises that the end of the world was near. But they created enough excitement that by the time Jesus came into Jerusalem on the first day of the most important week in their culture—the week of Passover, when they would retell the story of what God had done and hold out the hope of what God would do—they were ready. By the time Jesus got there the whole city had gathered on the streets to welcome him with great fanfare.

And here is what they said: “Hosanna,” which has become a word of praise, but is, at its root, an imperative statement of salvation, a word calling out to be saved. The word actually means “save now.” In other words, we can’t wait any longer; this is it; wrap this up. Hosanna. Save us now.

There comes that point in any good story, where you are longing for Resolution, when you can’t take it anymore. The story is everything at this point; you are begging the author, the director, whoever is in charge, “Will you give me some Resolution? I can’t do this anymore.”

Throughout the season of Lent, we have talked about the numerous threads in the Bible. Beginning in Genesis we saw Thread #1: God speaks because God desires relationship. The laughable dream of Abraham showed us Thread #2: If God makes a promise, God keeps it. As we watched the wandering people of God get frustrated in the wilderness, we found Thread #3: God will provide all you need for the journey. Then with David, we saw an unlikely little shepherd boy become king—Thread #4: God calls the unlikely and gives them a better story. Then last week we talked about the prophetic voice singing over us the beautiful message of Thread #5: God’s love is recurring and relentless.

Jesus’ coming and his triumphal entry on Palm Sunday appear at first glance to be the Resolution of all these threads. This is not to say it is the end of the story; it’s not. There will be even more important events that happen afterwards, but it seems at the time to be the culmination of this waiting for Resolution.

Some of us find ourselves there today. We are waiting for God. We need God.

III.

Don’t miss that it was a broken community of broken people like us who cried out to God that day. They waved palm branches and cried Hosanna. Jesus comes to these people in his normal clothes, looking like them, riding on the colt of a donkey. He connects Genesis to Abraham, to the wandering Israelites, to David, to the exiled Judahites, and to them. A broken community is crying out to their God, and finally God comes.

I have seen communities cry out to God and say “We need you now.” Communities ravaged by poverty, economic recessions, and “white flight” to new suburban communities. The north side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is one of those communities. The neighborhood was littered with abandoned homes and storefronts that once thrived with life and activity. There were no jobs and no jobs meant no hope for a brighter future. And the people cried out to God, broken, in turmoil, lacking hope in a brighter future for themselves and their friends and families. Until one day God placed a call and a vision on one man’s heart. Saleem Ghubril, a Presbyterian pastor, started what is known as The Pittsburgh Project back in 1985. It was a way to engage North Side youth with faith, hope and love with afterschool tutoring, job training and more. And at the same time serve the needs of vulnerable homeowners: those who are elderly, poor, home bound, widowed, disabled, or immobile. Today, almost thirty years later, volunteer crews – mainly comprised of teenagers and college students – repair more than 150 homes each year in neighborhoods throughout the city and neighboring boroughs. Volunteers come from throughout Pittsburgh, out-of-town, and even out-of-state to participate in day-long or week-long service camps. For the North Side youth who take part in the Pittsburgh Project discovered what it means to be part of the community. For the young people and adults who came to serve and give life away to another in need, they were called by God to come and serve with faith, imagination and love. Through the Pittsburgh Project, God comes to the youth and vulnerable homeowners across Pittsburgh with his power, grace and love.[1]

The story of our God, the story written into the fabric of time, and the fabric of our souls, is that God comes—not how you expected God, to be sure. But God comes in power and in love.

In power and love God comes to all broken communities of people. To broken marriages, God comes. To broken finances, God comes. To broken churches, God comes. To broken nations, God comes. To the luckless, the abandoned and the forsaken, God comes. To the confused, the accused, and the misused, God comes. To the single mom working hard trying to make ends meet for her family, God comes. For the one who has secrets that they just can’t face, God comes. God comes and by the end of the week we will have forgotten all the excitement of this beautiful and glorious day, all the anticipation of this moment, waiting for resolution and we will cry out, Crucify him! Crucify him!

And do you know what? God comes again.

It’s pretty likely that you are at a place in your story where you are waiting for Resolution. That’s where we spend most of our time. Most of the time is the mean time. You’re waiting for some deal to go through, somebody to pick up the phone, somebody to come home, a paycheck to arrive, a check to be mailed, for a wrong to be made right. That’s where most of the God story takes place, any good story does. And God comes. Jesus comes for you. That’s his promise to us. Will you not receive it today?

---

[1] http://www.popcitymedia.com/features/pghproject1210.aspx

The God Story: The Soundtrack

Zephaniah 3:14-17

I.

How important is the Soundtrack?

In a movie or TV drama, the Soundtrack, what you hear, is as important as what you see. You often don’t even notice it, but it keeps the story moving, and it connects the story in the movie. It draws you into the story. Often a song or a variation of it will be used in the opening credits, or in an introductory scene to be used again at the climax and the end. The Soundtrack can be as important as the dialogue.

Today movies are one of our most common ways of telling a story. In fact when a good story gets written and spreads in popularity, it is not long before they are trying to make a movie of it because that is how many people experience story now a days.

We have been talking about our story, and I want us to consider this morning: “What is our Soundtrack?” and “Does the God Story have a Soundtrack? And if so, what is it?”

In The God Story, we have talked about the greatest story ever told: the story of God and God’s people. This story is found in our Bible, but what is the connection between these books of the Bible—thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament, with many different authors. The liturgist or the pastor gets up in church and reads out of a book called Zephaniah, and you wonder, “What in the world does that have to do with the rest of the story? And what does it have to do with me?”

We have discussed threads that run through the whole story. There are unique and individual stories in the Bible but also some incredible glue that holds them all together. There are threads that run throughout.

Beginning in Genesis we saw Thread #1: God speaks because God desires relationship. The laughable dream of Abraham showed us Thread #2: If God makes a promise, God keeps it. As we watched the wandering people of God get frustrated in the wilderness, we found Thread #3: God will provide all you need for the journey. Then last week with David, who we often think of as great, we saw that he started out the least likely candidate to carry on the lineage of Christ. That was Thread #4: God calls the unlikely and gives them a better story.

II.

And so David becomes king and then from his lineage there was king after king after king. Here is what was said about most of them. “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 21:2). The people who were once called Israel split into two nations, so then they had two kings, and then they faced oppression, even destruction, and eventual subjugation and dispersion from other larger, more powerful nations. This king experiment had gone bad.

During this time God raised up certain people to be prophets. In the Old Testament, sixteen books contain the story or the words of these prophets. The word prophet derives from a Greek word that means “foresee”; that is what we usually think about with the term prophet, someone who sees the future. But that is not all. And if we stop there with prophet, we truly miss what they were sent by God to do.

The prophets’ true task was to speak on behalf of God to the people, and to speak on behalf of the people to God. God speaks because God desires relationship (Thread #1), and most of the time what the prophet spoke was a message of God’s continued desire. The prophet says God still remembers God’s promises.

And certainly, the prophets’ voices took into account our thread of betrayal and deceit; they didn’t sugar coat that or wash over it.

The prophets’ voice is the Soundtrack to the faith experience of the Hebrew people. As they went along on their way, God would raise up prophet after prophet who spoke of the promises of God to draw people into the story.

We have the option to just live life paying no attention to the greater story. You can pay the bills, punch the clock, drive kids all over kingdom come, and mark time until it is all over. All of these things are a part of our life, important parts. But you have an important role to play in the God Story, and the prophets’ Soundtrack is a reminder of this.

III.

Zephaniah was one such reminding prophet. We don’t know the exact details of the situation of the nation of Judah, but it was likely under fire from surrounding empires. It would only be a couple of decades before the nation was completely taken over: the kings of the line of David were killed, Jerusalem was destroyed, and the Temple leveled.

The people desperately needed to hear from God.

So we know Zephaniah’s word would have been an urgent word. And he is telling them God is going to do something!

Zephaniah 3:17 says:

The Lord your God is in your midst,
he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.

The Soundtrack for our lives, the re-occurring theme song, is God’s love song ringing in our ears.

Wait a minute! The Soundtrack for our lives, the re-occurring theme song, is the love song of our God ringing in our ears?

It’s hard to take in. This isn’t just somebody romanticizing and getting all touchy feely about God. Zephaniah is not a romantic book. Zephaniah’s book is a hard book that exposes the depth of betrayal of the people, how far they have turned from God, and the devastating consequences of such choices. So when you hear this word about God delighting, quieting, and singing over us, don’t take it lightly, take it to heart.

Zephaniah is introducing us to Thread #5 in our story.

IV.

Thread #5: God’s Love Is Re-occurring and Relentless.

God’s love will keep on coming; it will not let up; it will not go away. God is saying, “I love you. Yeah you’ve messed up; I see that; I see that better than you, but your messing up is not more powerful than my love.”

And he calls out to his people over and over again, so he can sing to us over and over again.

When one of our kids is hurting, cranky, or is scared after having a bad dream, D’Anna and I want to calm their minds and soothe their spirits. To do so, we sing songs to them. “Jesus Loves Me” is always a winner. Michael liked for us to sing “Jesus Loves the Little Children” and “ABCs”. For Marissa and Meredith, it’s “El Shaddai” by Amy Grant. And we don’t just sing it once.

With kids sometimes you have to repeat things over and over again, so they will get it, or at least we hope so. The prophetic voice is the voice of God over and over again, saying, “It’s ok; I’m with you; I’m a warrior who is mighty to save; I delight in you; I want to comfort you. I love you.”

The prophets’ song is the Soundtrack to remind us that God loves us, fights for us, and will never let us go. And that’s the Gospel!

The God Story: The Inciting Incident

1 Samuel 16:1-13

I.

Though Jesus was known to quote Scripture from time to time, his primary way of teaching was through story. When Jesus wanted to convey a hard to explain spiritual truth, he didn’t preach a three-point sermon; he told a story. We connect to stories. Stories get our attention in a way that a formula or definition cannot.

Jesus taught, not by quoting a Hebrew scripture or bombarding the listener with doctrine, but rather through stories and parables. Stories are written on the parchment of our souls, branded on our hearts. We can easily find ourselves wrapped up in a good story that proclaims great truth better than doctrinal statements could any day.

In our sermon series, The God Story, we have seen that the Bible is not just a disconnected collection of historical accounts, but a story that helps us connect with the mysterious truths of God. Though it can be helpful at times to take a verse here or there, we seek to hear whole story of the Bible: the connection from Genesis to Jesus and beyond.

We have talked about some of the elements of a good story in the last few weeks. A good Introduction is where you learn important information about the main character. We talked about the Suspension of Disbelief where you ask the reader to suspend their logic and critical faculties to believe the fantastic. We looked last week at the Rising Action, a critical time in the story where the protagonist faces conflicts and obstacles.

This week we learn that any good story or play or movie must have a clear Inciting Incident. The Inciting Incident is the moment in a script that kicks the story into motion. It is the event which sparks the fuse of the plot of the story; it’s something that MUST happen in order for the hook–the movie’s special premise–to kick in. It occurs only after the set up. Everything that follows the Inciting Incident should be a result of the Inciting Incident. It is where a story really gets going. It is that moment in the script where the protagonist’s world is turned upside down, It jolts your hero or heroine out of their everyday routine; and he/she must then set about resolving the change in circumstances that the incident has brought about. It is generally a clear and defined moment that is easily identifiable.

Think about the plane crash in the film Cast Away starring Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt. Tom Hanks is Fed Ex executive Chuck Noland who is flying on one of their jets to Malaysia when without warning, BOOM! Chuck Noland finds himself holding on for dear life as the plane loses air pressure inside and altitude outside. The peaceful world Chuck Noland had known comes to an end in a split second of time. Author and speaker James Scott Bell likens the Inciting Incident to a doorway through which the protagonist cannot return.[1] This is the inciting incident for Chuck Nolan: clearly defined and easily identifiable through which Chuck Nolan cannot return.

Our story, The God Story, began with the author and main character creating and writing the story of life into existence. We hear of his love for Creation and his desire not to be a far off and aloof God but one who is involved in what God made. In fact God is one who speaks to God’s creation because God desires relationship with the created. (Thread #1: God speaks because God desires relationship.) But God’s creation, the man and woman, choose their own way, betraying the trust of their God.

And yet God continues to hold out the promise to them and those that come after. He gives a laughable dream to an old man named Abraham, and keeps that promise by giving him a son at the age of one hundred. (Thread #2: When God makes a promise, God keeps it.)

And Abraham’s lineage did become a great nation. The promise was kept, but this did not keep the people from hardship and suffering, even slavery. We talked about last week how this people was delivered from slavery and led out into the wilderness, and even in that wandering time, that transition time, God provided all that they needed. This was Thread #3: God will provide all that you need for the journey.

II.

This wandering people did make it to the Promised Land. They were a people who were centered on one common thing, the God they served. Their connection was not based on physical boundaries or a human leader, only their God. And then they did something surprising, something unnecessary—they asked for a king. They saw other nations had kings, and they did not.

Samuel told them all the pitfalls of having a man be the leader, and yet they still cried out for a human king (1 Samuel 8:19-20). The first king was Saul, and sure enough he ended up getting a big head and wanting power and glory for himself. And so in the story we read this morning, God tells Samuel to go and anoint another king.

This is where we are introduced to David, who would become a great King. Samuel is told to go to the family of Jesse, who had eight sons. When Samuel gets there he sees the sons, strong attractive men. But as each son comes before Samuel—seven sons come before him—God says not that one, not that one, and not that one.

Samuel asks, “Are these all the sons you have?” (1 Samuel 16:11) Jesse answers, there is the youngest; he is tending the sheep. Samuel says, “Get him we will not sit down until he gets here.” David, the youngest with the most humble of jobs, is brought before Samuel. The Lord speaks and says, “He is the one.”

Do you see what’s happening here? Here’s David, the youngest of Jesse’s sons, a young boy or pre-teen, chosen by God through the judge Samuel to be King of Israel. He stands before the old judge with his father and brothers all around him who witness to the anointing of his head with oil, anointing him to be King of Israel.

And this is all happening while a perfectly healthy king, King Saul, is still in power. What a predicament! Good story, isn’t it?

David is one of the main characters of the God Story. He gets a lot of print, and this is his Inciting Incident. This is the “everything has changed moment,” the “there’s no going back now” part of the story. Everything that follows in his life comes from this moment. What is the inciting incident of your life?

At this moment David is given, if not a new story, a better story. David is thrust into a new story. When the prophet Samuel comes to your house, checks out your seven older brothers and then comes to you, pours oil over your head and says, “You’re the new king.”, but you’re not related to the current king. You’re not next in line. Nevertheless, David has received a new, better story. His days as a shepherd, sleeping in the fields, watching over his flock by night are over.

III.

David was unsuspecting, undeserving, caught by surprise, but chosen by God.

This is Thread #4 that we see all throughout the story; we’ve seen it already, and we will see it again. Thread #4: God calls the unlikely and gives them a better story. Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Ruth, Esther, David and the list goes on of unlikely individuals who accept a better story for their lives. In spite of his imperfections and mistakes, his pride and arrogance, David embraces a better story.

Something clicked for him; something changed in him. After all this is the guy who killed Goliath with a sling and a stone; who fought bravely in battle; who committed adultery and murder and later became a strong and mighty king. But it was that moment while tending to his father’s sheep a messenger came from Samuel that he wanted to see him. He arrives in his father’s house, sweaty, exhausted and out of breath, covered in dust and dirt from the fields now has oil pouring down his face and neck while God declares, “He’s the one. Bring him here.” This changes everything for David.

The Inciting Incident is a doorway through which you cannot return, a major life shift, whether positive or negative:

You’re fired.

Will you marry me?

I’m pregnant.

He’s not coming back.

It’s cancer.

Whether you meant to or not, you find yourself in a new story. What this story tells us is that whatever hand life has dealt us, whatever story we think we are destined to follow, God has a better story for us. And if you consider yourself unlikely or unwanted, then you are precisely who God wants to talk to.

Jesus was big on this. He called out unlikely people and gave them a new and better story. He gave a blind man a new story. He gave the bleeding woman a new story. He gave the paraplegic a new story. He gave the prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers and fisherman each one of them he gave them a new and better story.

I think sometimes we forget who we are. We forget who is writing the story for us. God has not written a story for you that includes abuse and misuse. God has written for you a better story. We need to remind one another of that fact. Not only that, God can use you to help others find the better story. You can help others walk through the doorway to connect with Jesus. It is a doorway they will never want to walk back through again.

---

[1]Bell elaborates on his concept of “doorways of no return” throughout his book Plot & Structure (Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 2004).

The God Story: Rising Action

Exodus 16:1-4

Numbers 11:4-6

I.

We started our study of the God Story in a timely place: In the Beginning. In the first chapter of Genesis we find this interesting, captivating story of how the author and main character, God, got this whole thing spinning in motion. After God created humans, God did something revolutionary that gods aren’t supposed to do: God spoke to them.

That was Thread #1, our first connector that we will see throughout the story: God speaks because God desires relationship.

We talked last week about Abraham and the laughable dream God gave Abraham that at the age of one hundred; he would become the father of a great nation. We talked about our own dreams, our own stories that we still hope will be written, and learned about Thread #2: If God makes a promise, God keeps it. 

We jump back into our Story this week at a place that is critical for understanding the connections or threads throughout the whole God story. But first let me catch you up. You might think of this as a montage, or a sequence of clips in a movie that covers a long period of time in just a few minutes (usually accompanied by a great song) to get you up to the next point of major action. In our montage, we see a few generations pass. Abraham and Sarah did have a son, Isaac. Isaac married Rebecca, and they had twin sons: Esau and Jacob. Jacob had many children, twelve sons who would become the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel. One of the sons of Jacob, Joseph, ends up going to Egypt and saving all of Egypt during a famine. When they became a great nation, part of God’s promise to Abraham is fulfilled.

Then a new king who did not know Joseph came to power in Egypt and forced the descendants of Abraham into slavery. And that is where we find ourselves in the Book of Exodus, a record of people who were enslaved, who then became a people on the run, who then became a people with no home.

II.

Exodus is, if the Bible is one grand story, the Rising Action. You remember those elements of a story from middle school. Here is the basic definition of Rising Action. During the Rising Action the basic conflict is complicated by the introduction of secondary conflicts including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist’s attempt to reach his or her goal.

In our story the basic conflict is the conflict of the people being separated from God, which started in the garden. It is carried throughout the God Story, and in Exodus it is now complicated by the introduction of secondary conflicts including various obstacles that frustrate the peoples’ attempt to reach their goal. Secondary problems like slavery, hunger, and exhaustion further complicate the already growing issues of a nation of people trying to stay connected with God.

So God radically saves the people from slavery using Moses, who was almost killed as a baby and then had to flee his home country because he murdered someone.  He was a guy who was scared to speak in public. Moses leads the people out of Egypt even as they are chased by an angry army. Then they find themselves in the desert wandering around, starving, tired, and exhausted. That is where we find them; facing secondary conflicts with various obstacles before them.

And somebody says, “Hey, remember when we were in Egypt?” Another says, “Yeah, we had meat to eat.” Another says, “yeah and cucumbers.” 

And someone makes the preposterous proposition, “Why don’t we just go back?”

The warning from this Scripture today is there will come moments in transition times, when we are headed toward our dreams that we will be tempted to go back to where we were before; to what is familiar and known.

Have you ever heard someone say, “I will never go back to that restaurant again”? My Pop-Pop was infamous for this.  He could have had the best dining experience possible with great food and great service.  But let’s say after a great dining experience he has to walk through a maze of hallways to get to a small, dingy men’s room.  Forget about it!  He’d say, “I will never go back to that restaurant again.”  But eventually he would.  Have you ever heard a long-time member say “I will never go back to this church again!”  To say this, one would have to have been so offended that they say they will never darken its doors for the rest of their lives.  And all because they took offense to a decision of the Session perhaps or the pastor’s sermons are boring and out-of-touch or they are not getting their way on church decisions or have a seat of prominence at the head table, so to speak.  But old habits are hard to break and more times than not the person or persons are back in the pew after a short period of time away.

The people of God who had been delivered from slavery, given water in the desert and bread from heaven, after a little time in the desert said, “The heck with it! Let’s just go back.” What they didn’t see was that God would give them all they needed for the journey. It is the thread running throughout the story.

III.

Thread #3—God will provide all you need for the journey.

We have to take this story seriously because some of the secondary conflicts and various obstacles in our lives can lead us into believing a lie. The lie is that life in slavery is better than following God, and you might as well just go back. When you start listening to that voice, you get yourself in trouble.

If you find yourself hoping for the next page to turn in your life, you may be in a chapter of transition. If so, here is what you have to be wary of. In these times it is easy for things to move so fast you can’t get a handle on them. You can become distracted. You can become exhausted. And these are the times when you are vulnerable to the temptation to turn around and to turn away from what God wants.

Surely the Israelites, if they thought about it real hard would not have preferred Egypt. It was a place of slavery, beatings, working in abusive and impossible situations. Life in the desert, in transition, is difficult and disorienting, making you vulnerable to complaining, grumbling, and unhealthy desires.

The transition times, the Rising Action, is in many ways the best part of the story. It is here you really learn the true depth of the characters; this is where the true depth of the character is formed. Romans 5:3-4 says, “we can boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope”. This is what defines you, not the in the beginning, and not the happily ever after; this is where you become who you were made to be.

The Hebrew people would re-tell this part of the story over and over again to remind them of what they went through, to remind them that God took care of them, and to remind them that God will still do it today.

IV.

If you are in a transition place right now, you may have seen a glimpse of where God might lead you. Don’t give up when you start feeling tired and start desiring meat and cucumbers. God will give you all that you need for the journey. Believe that. Trust that.

And sometimes we need some type of sign, something from God to let us know he is still with us. The people who were hounding Jesus were asking him for some type of a sign, something to hold onto. They said, “Our fathers ate manna in the desert. God gave them bread from heaven. What do we get?”

Jesus said, “I am the bread from heaven. If anyone has me, they will live forever” (John 6:31-36, paraphrase). We find Jesus in the Rising Action, and he is all we need. This is the Good News!  Thanks be to God!

The God Story: Suspension of Disbelief

Genesis 18:1-15

I.

Last week we began the series, The God Story, where we looked at the story of God and God’s people as found in the Scriptures. We often wonder, what connects the biblical stories? Does the God of Adam have anything to do with the God of Abraham? And what does that have to do with Jesus? What does that have to do with me?

Last week we encountered Thread #1 and it was “God speaks to God’s people because God desires relationship with them.” It is found in all the stories; a God who speaks and God speaks because God desires relationship. And if it is true for the people of the Bible, it is true for us, too.

Today we will introduce a new thread, but first I want to remind you that if you want to find yourself in the God Story you have to be willing to admit that you have a story. To get caught up in the story you have to understand your story as well.

You may have to admit you didn’t necessarily think this chapter of the story would go in the direction it does. A common theme in the story of God is: things don’t always look the way you thought they would or thought they should. So I will need to ask you to do something that is essential not just for enjoying a story, but for being caught up in the story.

It is called the Suspension of Disbelief.

The idea of the Suspension of Disbelief was first introduced by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1817. He said that when reading fantastic or non-realistic elements of literature there is a Suspension of Disbelief that is necessary. In other words, you have to be willing to suspend your tendency to not believe the impossible to have any hope of enjoying the story.[1]

It is required in many of our favorite stories; you have to say to yourself, “Ok, I’m putting reason and logic aside for a moment, because the story seems better than reason or logic right now.”

So in the film, The Legend of Bagger Vance, I’m going to believe that a mystical caddy named Bagger Vance just appears out of thin air for the purpose of offering the main character, Rannulph Junah, a way to find his “authentic swing”. He does so through his wisdom and insights while caddying Mr. Junah through the Crew Island Invitational against the top professional golfers of his day only to walk away and disappear over the sand dunes before it’s over. So in the film, National Treasure, I’m going to believe that yes, the Founding Fathers of our country following the Revolutionary War buried the exotic treasures of world history several stories down below the many subway trains and Trinity Episcopal Church in Lower Manhattan.

I want to invite you into a fantastic story, it will require great faith and certainly the Suspension of Disbelief, but please understand fantasy does not necessarily mean its fiction.

What I was trying to introduce last week is all the great stories we have find their origin in the great Story which is amazingly and unbelievably true.

There will be times in your story when you will be forced to suspend your disbelief; so you can be caught up in the amazing, surprising, chapter that God holds next for you.

We learn this from Abraham and Sarah. In Genesis 12:2-3, God says, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, I will make your name great and you will be a blessing.”

At seventy-five, God is going to make Abraham’s name great? And the really unbelievable part is that God will make him a great nation. This implies Abram’s offspring will multiply and multiply and become a strong people. Trouble is, Abram has no sons and daughters.

The story continues in Genesis 15. It is eleven years later, Abram is now eighty-six, and still has no children, when God repeats the promise that Abram will be the father of countless children. So Abram and Sarah cook up a different plan, deciding to help God with God’s promise. Sarah tells Abram he must continue his heritage, so she gives him her servant Hagar. Abram and Hagar have a son Ishmael, but this does not seem to be the answer. At age ninety-nine, God speaks to Abram again, and changes his name to Abraham, which means “father of many,” and says you will birth many, and I will establish a covenant with you and your descendants.

Do you see how absurd this is? Suspension of Disbelief is necessary to continue in this story but it’s difficult. God sends the message again, and Abraham and Sarah just laugh, because God’s promise seems so implausible, so unbelievable. God is leading us to believe that the laughable dreams of our hearts might still be possible through God’s power.

II.

Here is Thread #2. If God makes a promise, it will come true.

It may not be in our time. It almost definitely will not be in the way we would draw it up, but God will not forget or go back on God’s word. And this was true for Abraham; everything God promised came true.

The question is, will we be willing to suspend our disbelief to be a part of the God Story, or are we too black and white, too realistic, too rational, maybe even too pessimistic to believe an incredible dream for our life?

What incredible dreams do you have? Once upon a time I had the incredible dream of playing shortstop for the Yankees. But after only tallying two hits in three seasons of Little League, I thought I should try something else. In high school, I dreamed of becoming a stockbroker. But after losing money in a regional stock market game with area high schools, again I thought I’d better look elsewhere. With my dream of going to law school and become a lawyer, more roadblocks and signs appeared. But I remained faithful to God knowing that if God makes a promise, it will come true. So when I began to consider a call to the ministry, all the doors of my other career aspirations were closed with this one left wide open. I’m right where I’m called to be serving God’s people and the world as a pastor of Jesus Christ. This is the part I play in the God Story.

Our story is the story of the God of Abraham, which I’m sure has meant a lot of different things for people over the centuries, but what it reminds me of is that we follow the God who took an old man whose dream was gone, and because he believed—because he suspended his disbelief—it happened. Abraham believed God’s dream for his life. His dream came true.

Paul says this is how we find life, salvation: “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations’” (Romans 4:16-17). We are a part of God’s Story! We are the extension of the promise God made through Abraham.

God wants to call some things in your life that do not exist as though they were. He wants you to suspend your disbelief and believe. And things that are not can become things that are.

Simply believe.

---

[1] Coleridge expounded on his literary concept, the “willing suspension of disbelief,” in his well-known autobiography Biographia Literaria; Or Biographical Sketches of My Literary Life and Opinions (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983).