Respecting God and Humanity

Proverbs 1: 20-33

Mark 8: 27-38
 

A little boy walked into class on the first day of school wearing a “Jesus loves me” bracelet on his wrist. When the other boys noticed, they laughed and pointed. The little boy felt ashamed because all of his friends thought he was a big dork for having a bracelet that let everyone know he went to church and loved Jesus. He took it off when no one was looking and hid it in his pocket so no one would laugh at him anymore. But when the boys noticed he had taken it off, they made fun of him even more. “Guess you really DON’T love Jesus, do you?!” the one boy sneered at him.

Upset, angry, and on the point of crying the boy ran into the bathroom and took the bracelet out of his pocket. He stared down at it for a second, crushed in his tiny, sweaty fist, and then angrily threw it into the toilet and flushed it down. He thought to himself, “Now no one will ever make fun of me again”, and he’d never again have to feel this way.

That little boy made a choice that day which would affect the rest of his life. He developed a disdain for people who went to church and loudly proclaimed to love Jesus. They drew attention to themselves and allowed others to make fun of them and they just kept talking about how much Jesus had done for them. He didn’t get it. Jesus allowed his friends to make fun of him when he just wore a bracelet. Why would these people let complete strangers belittle them and treat them so horribly? Was anything or anyone worth being treated so bad and feeling so awful about yourself? He couldn’t imagine Jesus would do the same thing for him.

There are thousands of people outside of these walls that have felt the same way. Perhaps you are one of them. Talking about going to church and attending Sunday school sometimes feels like a socially unacceptable thing to do. When we mention God or Jesus or faith, people seem to shut down on us. They begin to fidget and look away; they will pull out their phones or check their watches, say something inane and then change the subject. It always seems like they are thinking, “I can’t believe they brought that up.”

Such reactions are disheartening and after awhile, we put up barriers. We deliberately do not say anything about our faith and going to church, and we definitely don’t mention what we learned in Sunday school or something the pastor might have said during the sermon. If we want to keep our friends and not be considered strange or one of those crazy, fanatical Christians, we know that there are only certain people we can mention church too.

Today is Invite a Friend to Church day in many churches around the U.S. I have to wonder how many new people are going to attend. Unfortunately, not only are church-goers hesitant to bring up Jesus and invite a person to church, but getting a person to actually want to go is even harder than trying to talk about it. We come up with a thousand excuses not to mention Jesus or church, and this bible passage calls us out. It reveals our hesitancy, reminding us that we are not to feel ashamed about our love for Jesus Christ and if we are, then Jesus will surely have something to say about it.

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, but forfeit their soul?” That is the crux of it all. We may have a million friends because we hide a part of who we are, but in the meantime we lose a piece of our soul every time we ignore Jesus in favor of talking about anything else that will please the people we are with.

I mentioned a couple sermons ago that one of my very best friends does not believe in religion, but believes in God. Do you know that him and I talk more about God and AGREE than I do with some Christians? Sometimes we have arguments about my belief in Jesus, but I am proud to say I have never once belittled his faith. The point is to create a discussion, and if he didn’t live three thousand miles away, I know I could get him to come to this church once in awhile to hear what I have to say. We have created a place in our friendship where we are allowed to agree and disagree about God and our belief.

We all need that. We all need to be able to have people we can discuss our faith and belief with outside of these church walls. We need to be thinking about God more than just on a Sunday morning. God is with us every single moment of our lives, and yet we barely give God a moment throughout the week to be recognized. Too often we hide our faith in Jesus behind a laugh when someone makes a religious joke. We pretend that we don’t really believe that prayer changes things, when we have experienced it in our own lives. We talk about the ride we took on Sunday or the football game we watched, but not the great lesson our Sunday school teacher prepared that day.

“What can anyone give you in exchange for your soul?” There goes Jesus, once again asking the hard questions and making us realize where we have gone wrong. We only get one life to live. We only get so many moments where we may proudly proclaim ourselves to be God’s children. Some are little moments, but others are more momentous. Each of us has faced a time when we could choose God or we could choose to ignore God. We have times when we feel shame and fear to expose ourselves as Christians, especially in a hostile environment.  

I cannot help but think of the people killed in Libya a few days ago. They were killed because they were Americans and an American had made an awful video depicting the Muslim prophet Mohammed as a violent, evil person who did despicable things to men, women, and children. It wasn’t right that the protestors of the video killed those four people. It also wasn’t right that a person would create such an awful video that they knew would cause chaos and anger and pain. There is so much distrust between Christians and Muslims that the actions of a few cause a world-wide ripple.

The Christian pastor that burns a Koran on September 11^th, and the Muslim leader who kills an American – there is an utter lack of respect for other people’s beliefs and thoughts and feelings. There is a lack of dignity being paid to each side. We are all human beings and God has created us all. Jesus reminds us that we are to love everyone and that includes not only the Christians of the world, but the Muslims and the Buddhists, and the atheists.

When we react with such hatred, anger, and fear toward other people, it is just another way of ignoring God and turning our back on what we are taught in church and Sunday school. It is easy to be angry and mistrustful – it’s much harder to be understanding and loving. Jesus tells us, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”  

There are times when we unconsciously show our shame and disdain for Jesus. For instance, when we pretend not to be an avid church-goer around our friends and acquaintances at work, when we hate other people with more passion than we love Jesus – we show shame in what we have been taught by God.

When we deliberately ignore all we know to be true, we disrespect our Lord and His teaching. We, like that little boy, put God in our pocket to hide Him and our faith from the world and there are times that we also throw God away so that we can act and feel and think in ways that we know Jesus would disapprove of.

God is not just for Sundays. Jesus loves you every day, every moment of the week. It is time we showed our love for God and others every day, and every moment of the week as well. It is time we respect all of humanity for God created us all in God’s image.

Amen.

 

 

Embracing Our Doubts

Isaiah 35: 4-7a

James 2: 1-10

There seem to be days when it is easier to believe the promises of the Bible than on other days. When we read passages like in Isaiah that talk about our eyes being opened and the lame leaping like deer – we often have one of two responses. Sometimes we are comforted by such a message and then there are days when we are disheartened.

Who here has believed the promises and known disappointment? I think all of us would be able to raise our hand on that one.

Then we hear people say things like, “If God didn’t answer your prayer it is because God has something better in store for you. God has a better plan than what you could come up with.” We hear songs sung like, “Thank God for unanswered prayers” and we nod our heads because yes, there ARE times when we are grateful God did not answer our fervent prayer.

But there will always be times when we wish God would answer and we hear nothing but silence. There will be times when we are praying for Aunt Susie in the nursing home fighting dementia or Grandpa Ronnie whose diabetes has gotten out of control and has lost both his legs. There will be days when we are praying for safe passage for our family and friends, when we pray for the drought to end or the hurricane to pass us by and none of these prayers will be answered in the way we want and need them to be.

As faithful Christians, what are we to do with this knowledge? We know that not all prayers are answered. We know that sometimes no matter how strong our faith and belief in God, that what we pray for will not be what we receive. There are thousands of disillusioned Christians for that reason and sometimes we are one of those thousands of people.

Yes, even your pastor has had doubts and been disillusioned with God. We all have battles in our lives, moments that test the very fiber of our being and they are often the moments that test our faith to its utmost as well. For some, that fragile connection to God will break and for others it will be stretched thin but not broken.

Jesus had an interesting view on the subject of faith. He often told the crowds and disciples that it does not take very much faith to move mountains and change the course of our lives. But he also did not have a problem with doubts and questions from the people. He often seemed to encourage the dialogue with his parables and stories. Jesus believed that doubts were healthy; perhaps even a necessary part of our faith.

The reason it is healthy is because a person that questions what God is doing and not doing is someone that is thinking. A person that reads a line of scripture like, “and the lame will leap like the deer” and thinks, “I’ve yet to see that happen, is it really possible?” is someone that is analyzing and puzzling out what their faith means to them and to God. When we were children we thought and acted like children. We accepted what the pastor and our Sunday school teachers had to say without too many questions. They knew better than us.

Now that we are adults, we must think and act like the responsible people we strive to be by making sure that we never just accept what another tells us as truth. We remember that the Bible while inspired by the Holy Spirit, it was written by mortal men and women and was transcribed over and over again. There may be mistakes in there, honest mistakes but mistakes nonetheless. We remember that although the pastor has gone to school to help teach the congregation, they are one person and with limited knowledge and power compared to Jesus Christ. We cannot just accept every word a person says as Gospel Truth. It’s healthy to question and yes, even argue over our views.

When we take time to discuss the various viewpoints, we are giving God a chance to teach us more, to show us more about whom God is and who we are as His children. Let me give you an example. A few months back I referred to the Holy Spirit as She. Every now and then I do this because I know there are some people out there that feel women do not get represented enough in the Trinity. Jesus is male and we often refer to God as Father, but when God made humanity we were made in God’s image. Male AND female.

The Holy Spirit has often been referred to as Wisdom in the Old Testament, and in the Greek Wisdom is pronounced Sophia which is also a woman’s name. Some people get around using he or she for the Holy Spirit by using the word IT, but I find that to be too impersonal. When the person asked me about why I would call the Holy Spirit SHE, these are the things I told them. I’m not sure if the person approved or disapproved of the pronoun I had used, but I do know that because they asked they walked away with more information on why I had used the word I had instead of the one that is most often spoken. And with that extra knowledge they were better able to decide for themselves if the Holy Spirit was a SHE or a HE or an IT in their own mind.

Questions are a good thing. Doubt is a good thing. Do not despair if you find yourself questioning the Bible or your own faith and belief. Embrace these things because it is in the things we struggle with the most that we are able to learn more about God and ourselves. It’s not comfortable or an easy thing to experience, but these struggles really do enrich our faith.

A few years ago I met a friend who loved to argue and debate which worked out well because I also love to argue and debate topics. We spent our nights working in the seminary cafeteria and debated many theological issues. It was a growing and learning process for me because he came from a strong biblical background and I had not. I came into seminary without having read much of the bible and without having taken a single course in theology and God. He went to a bible college and knew more than his fair share and so we would talk and learn from each other.

One night, he brought up a point I could not get around. It was one we had argued over often, but this night his argument hit me square in the heart and I found myself struggling with doubts. As I was walking home, I looked up at the stars and tears were streaming down my face. I remember saying to God, “If this is the way it is, I’m not sure I can be a pastor because this hurts to believe.” I struggled and struggled with this issue for months. I wrestled with God like Jacob had wrestled with God and I wasn’t sure who was winning.

Finally, God and I came to an agreement. I realized that no one knows everything about God and although it is possible that I was wrong in my belief, no one would be hurt by my belief. God helped me to understand that the most important part of my faith is not about everyone’s views aligning perfectly with my own, but that I make sure to be open to other’s views. I make sure to respect an individual’s beliefs even if they are vastly different from what I believe because only God knows why they believe that. It is not our place to judge, and all we can hope is that others will be as kind and tolerant of us.

It was a good lesson to learn. It was also an extremely hard one that caused me many sleepless nights and confused days. But my faith is stronger for the questions and doubts, for the struggles and pain. Yours will be as well. Do not hide your doubts; do not run away from your questions. There are answers out there. Not always easy ones and not always pleasant, but if you want to know more – God is waiting.

 

Amen.

The Making of a Christian

Song of Solomon 2: 8-13
James 1: 17-27

A good friend of mine is not a Christian. He’s not Jewish, or Muslim, or even a Buddhist. He told me that he had once read quite a bit about all of these religions, but he wasn’t sure he could believe in any of them. For awhile, he considered himself an atheist. After all, if he couldn’t believe in any religion in the world, he must not believe in God. However, the more he thought about it the more he realized he did believe in God. What he didn’t believe in were people.

There is a vast difference between believing in religion and believing in God. We tend to not make the distinction, assuming that if you believe in one you certainly believe in the other which is why my friend thought for so long he must be atheist. Religion is fallible. God is not. Religion was created to help organize the chaos that surrounds our lives and it was created to put shackles on God.

Are you uncomfortable with that idea? I am. How can our belief in Christianity put a shackle on God? Our beliefs start out pure and with good intentions. The disciples and Paul helped to build the Christian religion with their desire to spread the Good News. They instituted rituals and customs because it is what they had in their Jewish faith and it is what people need. We need the comfort of knowing what to do and what to say and when to do it.

Let me give you an example. If I told you that as of now, we would only do Communion on Christmas and Easter, what would your response be? And what if I said that Consistory has decided that we no longer need candles or altar cloths because a barren church better represents Jesus? What if I said we will no longer have bulletins because we’re going to let the Holy Spirit lead church?

It’s unsettling. These are things we know are coming, they are tools to help guide us as we worship. The candles represent the fire God has lit inside our hearts, the altar cloths tell us what season and occasion it is while giving a homey, comforting feel to the sanctuary. Communion is supposed to bring us closer to God and to each other. Each one of these things has a meaning and a purpose to help us worship God.

But do they?

My friend who does not believe in religion is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. He has devoted his life to helping others by becoming a children’s psychiatrist. Each friend he makes he keeps in close contact with and his wife of two years knows how much he loves her because he makes sure to not just tell her but to show her. My friend may not believe in Christianity, but he lives a Christian life. How is that possible?

Well, if we get back to the idea that religion can sometimes put shackles on God, I see how it is possible. We become so ingrained in our beliefs and systems and our committees we forget that God exists outside of all of these things. God existed long before we created and God will exist long after they are gone. God does not begrudge us our many committees or paperwork to make sure all is well and smoothly run in the church. God does not begrudge us the money it takes to keep a building up to date or the money we spend on toner and paper to create bulletins every week.

The problem is us. When we get so caught up in what HAS to be because it has always BEEN, we stifle the creative power of our Lord. Yes, we have always had Communion once a month. Yes, we have always had bulletins and candles and altar cloths. Does this make us more of a Christian church to have these things? What makes a person a Christian? What makes a church a holy place?

James tells us that, “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.” We are told to be quick to listen and slow to speak and slow to become angry. James makes it very clear that this is what makes up a Christian because God is working in us to correct our faults. We do good things not because it gets us into heaven, but because good things have been given to us and our response is to love like we have been loved.

But how many of us do it? For as much love and blessings as we all have been given, we all know in our hearts that we do not respond with equal love and generosity. Sometimes we do not respond at all. We take the things given to us as our due. We often feel self-entitled and we can allow ourselves to become narrow-minded.

James tells us that this is not God’s way. According to James, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” God does not change like shifting shadows. God does not get caught up in rules and committees and when it is time to have Communion. These things are not what are important to God. They are helpful, they are useful tools, but they are not what make up a Christian or a church.

Actions. It would annoy my friend to know I called him a Christian because he has known way too many that do not live like Jesus lives. I remember the day I told him I was going to become a pastor, strangely enough, he was the only one I told that supported me unconditionally. Even my family had deep reservations about it but he said to go for it. Then he made me make a promise to him. He asked, “Please, do not ever force your beliefs on someone and if you say something, mean it and do it. Promise me you will not become a hypocrite.”

That stuck with me through all three years of seminary and now the two years I have spent here. Do not become a hypocrite. When we say do not judge lest you be judged, when we say love others as God loves you, these things are powerful if we stick to them. One of my favorite quotes is by Francis Assisi and it says, “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”

Actions. We can say we are a Christian or we can say we are not. It is our actions that prove our words to be truth or lie. We can say we are here to help people, to give back to the community, but it is our actions that tell the most about why we are here. We can say we love others and do not judge, but when we gossip and complain about everyone around us, we make a mockery of those words.

We all will fall short of the glory of God. We’re human. We weren’t made perfect, we are in the midst of being perfected. We will make mistakes. We will fall and crawl and find ourselves lost at times. That is human nature. But if we keep these words of James in mind, if we remember the life that Jesus lived on earth - we have a guide to follow, we have a way to pick ourselves back up, to brush ourselves off and get back onto the way of being the person and the people that God desires us to be.

It is time we let the shackles fall away so that we all may be free to love unconditionally. That we may be free to see God in the many ways God exists in our lives. We are not perfect, but God has made us a promise. Follow Him, and we will be given eternal salvation. We need to follow Jesus more than we need to follow our manmade rules. Jesus didn’t always follow the rules and yet he said, “I came not to abolish the law, but to perfect it.” Our history has shown us we weren’t always right in how we worshipped God. When we oppressed black people and justified it with scripture. When we refused women leadership positions and justified it with scripture. We have been wrong before. We will be wrong again.

Jesus reminds us that sometimes we must break the rules to follow God. Rules are not perfect, but God is perfect. If we follow Jesus, then we will be doing what is right and good and true. Our actions will align precisely with our words, and everyone will know we are Christians in both word and deed.

Amen.